Silent Noise
by samcedeswannabe
Summary: Mercedes Jones tries her best to block out the overwhelming noise of the world, until one day, she meets a man who has never been able to hear it.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: For samcedes week I wrote a prompt where Mercedes had just started university and met Sam Evans for the very first time in her class. People seemed to enjoy the concept so I've decided to turn it into a fic. Hope you like it!

Mercedes Tamara Jones dropped the last heavy brown box to the floor with a loud sigh before she reached up and stretched out her body. A firm hand squeezed her shoulder and she turned around to look into the face of her smiling father. He had driven her all five hours to her new university without a single complaint and she couldn't be more grateful to him. His six foot two height towered over her short frame before he made his way over to the couch that was planted in the middle of the room. People often joked around and teased her for being as short as she was with a father like hers and she always laughed it off with them with a shrug. Telling them at those kinds of moments that she was adopted would only make them uncomfortable, so she simply rolled her eyes and told them to shut it. When she was four years old, Mr. and Mrs. Jones adopted her and her older sister after they had been abandoned by their birth mother when Mercedes was only two. The Jones had been the best God send that she had ever had and every day she counted her blessings, even though her adopted mother had passed away a decade ago. Mercedes plopped down beside her dad and he wrapped a large arm around her shoulders.

"Alright, so you're all moved in. My backs acting up. And I need to hit the road before traffic becomes a devil with a toothache." He smiled and she leaned her head against his shoulder feeling saddened that he was about to leave so soon.

"Can't you stay for like...a week or something? Or at least leave me the car?" She joked and let out a small laugh. Her father laughed along with her and then shook his head.

"Nope, you're on your own now munchkin. You got this. And if push comes to shove...call your sister. I ain't driving this far again." He laughed. "I'm kidding, but I'll buy you a plane ticket home for Christmas." He gave her a firm side hug from their position on the couch and then stood up.

"_Thanks dad."_ She said sarcastically with a grin before she stood up beside him in the small living room.

"Now you know the rules, no drinking, no suspicious drugs, just because it's green don't mean a thing, and no..." He looked around the empty apartment to make sure that her roommate wasn't hiding somewhere. "No sexual activity. I might be five hours away...but I know all that happens." He tapped the side of his nose and broke out into a wide smile. To some that might have sounded like an idle threat, but Mercedes knew that her father, who was a policeman, had connections everywhere. The amount of boyfriends who had suddenly realised that she was too good for them and ended up running for their lives during high school had placed a great strain on her relationship with her dad. But after half of them had ended up with two to three kids or in jail or both, she realised that her dad had helped her dodge many large bullets.

"Oh my god dad, you said you were leaving right? We can't have you stuck in traffic and all." She smiled back at him and he pat the top of her head. A gesture he had always done, but it had always annoyed her when he did it in front of her friends growing up.

"Uh huh, trying to kick your old man out so you can start the boozing eh?" He laughed and bent down to give her a hug before he moved towards the open door. "Be safe okay...and make use of that m-a-c-e in your purse." He pointed to the bag that was slumped against the side of the couch.

Mercedes grabbed her purse and looked inside of it with a shocked expression. "Dad! You're going to get me arrested!" She shook her head and gingerly pulled it out to hand to him. He took it from her and then chucked it back into her purse. "Dad I can't use this."

"Well don't use it like perfume Mercedes." He chuckled and stepped into the hallway. "Call me whenever for whatever and I'll be here as fast as I can alright?" Mercedes bit her bottom lip which was beginning to tremble before she gave him one last hug.

"Thanks dad." He squeezed her shoulder one last time before he headed out to go to his car. She slowly closed her door and leaned her head against it hoping that she would be okay away from her family. Mercedes took a deep breath, picked up the box that she had dropped on the ground, and walked into her bedroom. Her eyes roamed over to her bed and widened drastically. She slowly put the box down, walked over to her bed, and picked up the silver handcuffs with a note attached to the cuff.

"The hell?..." She narrowed her eyes as she read the note.

_Hey roomie, welcome to the house of ladies in the streets, but freaks in the beds. -Santana L_

Mercedes looked around her room in fear, terrified that this Santana character was about to pop out of her closet looking like Rihanna with whips and chains or something. After she checked her room, including underneath her bed and behind her desk, she locked her door and finally unpacked the box she had brought in.

The next day Mercedes jolted out of her sleep and saw that her alarm hadn't gone off. Cursing angrily under her breath, she ran to the bathroom and hopped into the shower to get herself freshened up before she would need to head out. She hadn't woken up that late, but it was late enough that she wouldn't be able to eat breakfast like she regularly did before school. As she rubbed soap into her washcloth, she paused as she heard the bathroom door creak open. Her eyes darted towards the duck curtain that shielded her nakedness and listened as the sink was turned on and someone began to brush their teeth. She peeked around the plastic material and watched a Spanish looking girl, with black hair piled high on top of her head in a messy bun, slowly brush her teeth. She cleared her throat and stared pointedly at the woman. "Um...I'm taking a shower."

The girl looked at her and then at the curtain before nodding. "Yea, don't worry, you're not bothering me." She turned her head again to look back at the mirror as if nothing had happened. Mercedes jaw dropped before she quickly disappeared behind the curtain in shock. She slowly rinsed off her body and waited for the door to close before she sprung out of the shower and locked it. Once she was dressed and had applied some lip gloss to her lips, she ran out of her apartment and caught the transit to school. Unfortunately she got lost on her way to class and ended up in the wrong building. Grumbling and running past people, she finally made it to the right auditorium that was filled with noise and people who were chatting away with one another. Her eyes scanned the room as she pushed her bangs out of her face and spotted a chair beside an attractive blonde man who was passing a note between himself and a guy with a Mohawk. She hopped up the steps just in time before their professor entered the room and asked the class to settle down.

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?" She asked the blonde man who was now staring ahead. He didn't even look her way as she spoke and she narrowed her eyes before sitting down beside him. "Or you could be rude and ignore me, that's cool too." She mumbled to herself as she pulled her notebook and pencil out of her bag. The teacher went on to introduce himself to the class and said that his name was Professor Bates, not Master Bates, but Professor Bates. The class erupted into laughter and the guy with the Mohawk slipped a piece of paper to the blonde guy who looked down at it and silently laughed. She decided to give him a second chance and whispered to him. "He seems like he's going to be a really funny professor." She smiled but the blonde man ignored her again and continued to look forward. She rolled her eyes and slumped back in her seat feeling rejected. After a few moments the professor told the class to turn to someone they didn't know and introduce themselves. "Damnnit..." She muttered as she looked to her left and only saw stairs, she was going to have to talk to the asshole beside her. Mercedes watched the guy with the Mohawk push the paper towards the blonde man again and he looked down to read it. She waved her hand in front of his face in annoyance that he had blatantly ignored her more than once. He looked at her in surprise, smiled widely, and waved back at her. "Hi, I'm Mercedes." He stared at her mouth and nodded before he began to sign to her with his hands. Her eyes widened and she wasn't sure what to say. He silently laughed as he noticed her confusion, took her pen, and wrote on a page in her notebook.

**_I'm Sam, nice to meet you Mercedes._**

She looked up and smiled widely at him before blushing. "I'm sorry, I feel like an idiot... I thought you were ignoring me." He stared at her lips again and then wrote on the same page.

**_I could never ignore someone as beautiful as you, even if I wanted to_**_._ He looked at her with his green eyes and gave her a lopsided grin. She could feel her face growing ridiculously hot and hoped that he didn't notice.

"Is that guy with the Mohawk your friend?" Sam rolled his eyes and then nodded with a smile.

**_I've known him since high school, people call him Puck. He's taking notes for me...but as you can see..._**Sam pointed to his friend who Mercedes could tell was obviously hitting on the girl sitting beside him. **_He's not really good at the job he's been assigned. So if I flunk out of this class...you know why lol_**He nudged his friend and signed quickly to him, Puck laughed and mouthed out the words sorry bro but she's really hot. Sam shook his head and looked back at Mercedes.

"I can write notes out for you if you want? They might not be the greatest, but they're better than nonexistent ones." She laughed. Sam smiled before putting his hand to his lips and then quickly moved his hand forward and a bit down. She could only assume that he meant thank you, "You're welcome." He smiled widely and wrote on the paper.

**_You learn quickly! You and I will be signing away like champs soon. No more killing trees for notebook paper._** Mercedes laughed out loud and nodded eagerly. She would love for him to teach her how to sign. After a few moments the professor called the class' attention back to the front, but Sam and Mercedes continued their wordless conversation as she spoke to him by moving her lips to soundless words and he excitedly replied back to her by writing on her notebook paper. It was by far the most fun she had had in a very long time.


	2. Chapter 2

Mercedes curled up into a ball and held her pillow snug against her chest. Her body shook with silent tears as she fought off the homesickness that was beginning to overwhelm her. She had just finished an hour long conversation with her older sister and missed being able to hang out with her like she normally did. When she was home, she would go over to her sister's apartment and play with her little niece while her sister cleaned up or made them some food to eat for afterwards. Mercedes definitely missed that part, her sister's cooking. Before their adoptive mother passed away, she had taught Mercedes' older sister Serena, everything she knew about preparing food, and in turn Serena developed a passion for cooking and always incorporated their mother's teaching into her meals.

_"Where's Bella?" Mercedes pushed her back against the headboard of her bed and tilted her head to the side as she spoke to her sister._

_"Oh, she's here in front of me. She's sitting in Amir's lap watching Sesame Street on the floor. By the way, she can sit up by herself now and Amir's trying to get her to stand up too. I told him I don't think he wants her to walk so soon, she's already seven months and crawling around like a speed demon." Serena laughed into the phone and Mercedes could picture her sister on the couch, folding laundry, while her husband sat on the floor beside her legs holding Bella._

_"My baby girl is going to be a runner, just you watch." Mercedes heard Amir speak and the sounds of Bella giggling entered the phone._

_"Mhm, well you can try catching little miss road runner while I cook dinner then." Serena replied to her husband and then a squeal followed by laughter sounded in Mercedes ear. "Amir! Don't tickle *laugh* my feet *louder laugh* Stahp!" Serena started laughing, but Mercedes could tell she was a little of breath. "Sorry girl, I had to leave the living room so we could talk. That man is a fool."_

_Mercedes smiled into the phone. "Amir's the best. But, man, she's growing up too fast, slow it all down please so I can be there to see it. I miss her." She sighed into the phone and closed her eyes, she missed all of them._

_"I'll send you some pictures of her every day and I know that if she could say more than ma ma, she'd tell me she missed you too."_

_"Thanks."_

_"No problem Cedes. I have to go cook up some curry dish that Amir's mom told me to try out last week, I gave her the Jerk Chicken recipe and she about died and went to heaven ha." Serena lightly laughed. "I love you, and do your best in that school alright? And then come home."_

_"I will, I love you too, give Bella a kiss and say hi to Amir for me...bye." She hung up the phone and grabbed her pillow, pulling it to her chest._

A knock sounded on her door. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve, stared at the door for a moment, and willed whoever was on the other end of it to go away. The knock came again. Mercedes sighed, checked her face in her mirror, and then opened the door a crack. Santana stared back at her with a wide smile on her face.

"I didn't interrupt you rubbing your lady parts or anything did I?" She asked Mercedes as if she was talking about the weather. Mercedes' eyebrows shot up towards her hairline in shock and a blush coloured her cheeks.

"What?! No! I was talking to my sister." She pulled a disgusted face and shook her head. "What kind of question is that?"

Santana shrugged and folded her arm across her chest. "Listen, I heard some soft sounds coming from your room as I tried eavesdropping on you and thought that maybe you were serenading your button with your fingers and there's nothing wrong with that." Mercedes' mouth fell open as she stared at the girl in front of her in shock. "Anyways, I'm going to watch a movie on TV and wanted to see if you wanted to watch it with me too."

"Uh...no thanks." Mercedes said hesitantly.

"Why, are you going to have phone sex with someone or something?" Santana raised an eyebrow and looked genuinely curious. "Because you knows imma eavesdrop alllll over that right there." Just to get her to stop talking, Mercedes opened her door more widely and walked out of her room.

"You know what, let's just watch that movie then." She pulled the sleeves of her sweater down so that they covered her hands.

"Okay Aretha." Santana made her way towards the living room as Mercedes fought the urge to grab the girl's ponytail and strangle her with it.

"Excuse you?" She narrowed her eyes at the other woman and cocked her head to the side. "What the hell did you just call me?" Santana looked at her with amusement twinkling in her eyes and shrugged.

"Didn't know your name, so went with Aretha. Seemed like a safe bet."

"My name's Mercedes." Mercedes said in a threatening tone as she placed her hands on her hips. She didn't care who this chick was, but if she needed to bite her ear and smack her in the head, she had no problems with doing it.

"Mhm...I liked Aretha better, but anyways, I'm going to make some popcorn, you good with that Aretha?" Santana asked her as she headed towards the kitchen. Mercedes' mind wandered back to the mace that was in her purse and felt the urge to pelt it at the other woman's head. She sighed and then pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Sure." She plopped down on the couch and curled up on the far end of it as she waited for Santana to return. After ten minutes, the girl with the onyx hair returned with a large bowl of popcorn, and plopped down right beside Mercedes even though the rest of the couch was free. "Um, you know there's more space on that side of the couch right? Like way over there." She pointed towards the empty space. Santana looked at it and nodded.

"Yup, I see that." She picked up the bowl of popcorn and placed it on her lap, before reaching for the remote control. Mercedes noted that the woman still didn't move despite her efforts. "So listen. This movie costs six dollars, so with you here, it'll be four fifty from you and one fifty from me." Santana mumbled as she stuffed her mouth with popcorn. Mercedes let her mind wander to church so that she didn't pray that the girl choked on a kernel.

"Um, I'm not the best at math. But that's not half of six dollars." She looked at the girl from the side of her eyes.

Santana nodded and ate more popcorn before she spoke. "Yea, I know, but I provided the popcorn so...there you go. But if you want to be like that, I'll still pay half, because I'm a good ass person." Without waiting to hear another word about the money matter, she pressed play on the horror movie and turned on the closed captioning. Mercedes groaned and turned the subtitles off. Santana took the remote back from her and put them back on. "Listen, I'm eating very loud and crunchy popcorn okay, I need the subtitles on so I can see what's going down."

"I can't watch anything with subtitles on because..."

"Oh! My bad..." Santana looked shocked as she looked at Mercedes. "Aretha...I didn't know you couldn't read. That was insensitive on my part."

Mercedes shook her head. "What? No, I can read, I just can't read and watch the movie at the same time. I find it really distracting to focus with all of that going on." Santana gave her a long look and then rolled her eyes.

"Girl, that's a you problem, not a me problem." Santana muttered, what sounded like the word _loca, _under herbreath and continued to watch the movie. Mercedes stared incredulously at her for a few moments before she pushed her way off of the couch and walked towards her room.

"You must be out of your damn mind." She grumbled as she walked away.

"Hold up." Santana said quickly and Mercedes turned around to look at her with the expectation of receiving an apology. "You're still going to pay right? Because you watched the opening credits with me and that shit ain't free." Mercedes stared at her for a full minute without blinking, before she turned around and walked into her room, slamming the door in the process.

Over the next few days, Mercedes remained determined to stay far away from her roommate and would often spend much of her time in the library, or in abandoned classrooms, or sometimes she found herself in a cafe with a nice hot mug of hot chocolate. She was miserable and plotting her roommates demise in between studying notes and starting assignments. A group of people outside passed by the window that she was sitting near, and were giggling while animatedly speaking to each other. She stared at them longingly as the feeling of loneliness began to envelop her once again. A part of her didn't even know why she bothered staying at the university when she was feeling this alone and unhappy. A light tap on her shoulder broke her away from her thoughts and she looked up and stared into the bright green eyes that she hadn't seen since the first day of classes.

"Sam!" She said excitedly and a feeling of lightness overcame her. He waved at her and then pointed to the chair on the other side of the table. She nodded eagerly and he smiled as he sat down, plopped his satchel down to the ground, and pulled out a notepad and a pen. "Where have you been?" She mouthed slowly to him. He scrunched his eyes and slid the pen and notepad across the table for her to write on. He leaned forward as she wrote and then nodded before taking the items back.

**Sorry. I had to switch out of that class so that I could go to work in the morning before school. I'm in the later class now. **

He wrote and then looked up at her with a boyish grin that made her smile back in return. A look of confusion must have crossed her face because he wrote the word 'what' on the paper. "I thought you could read lips?" She said slowly and he stared at her mouth and she hoped that nothing was stuck in her teeth.

**I can, but it's just really exhausting and sometimes I might misunderstand you if one word looks like another. Like **

He paused and tapped the pen against his full lips before he resumed his writing.

**Cantaloupe and antelope. Which is really weird, and I always start laughing when someone says they ate an antelope for breakfast. But in this world, you just never know.**

She read what he wrote and started to laugh out loud. She shook her head and then grinned. "Teach me to sign with you." He stared at her lips and licked his own before his eyes reached hers.

**Mercedes, I'd love to. **

She wondered what his voice would have sounded like if he spoke. During that first class, she had heard him laugh a few times, but it was always a deep rumble that never really left his throat, but if you listened well you could hear it. He dragged a hand through his blonde hair and then leaned over to dig around in his bag. A server walked up to them and smiled at the pair.

"How was your hot chocolate ma'am?" He asked her cheerfully. She looked at her empty cup and smiled.

"It was amazing thank you. Can I order another one please?" The server jotted down the note and nodded.

"For sure and for you sir?" By this point Sam was sitting up with a textbook opened on the table and was not looking at the server. "Sir?" Mercedes quickly leaned forward and tapped Sam on the shoulder. He looked up at her with raised eyebrows and she pointed to the server. His green eyes searched the other man's face. "Sir, would you like something?" Sam took a moment to process the information and shook his head no with a smile before he returned his attention to his book. The server gave Sam a weird look before he walked away to get Mercedes hot chocolate. Sam pushed the note pad towards her.

**Want to be my study buddy?**

She looked down at the paper and quickly nodded her head towards him. "Yea of course!" In her excitement, she knocked the notepad off of the table, but before she could even bend to get it, he grinned and took her hand in his. Her pulse began to race quickly as he looked into her eyes and then down at her hand. She sent up a prayer that he didn't think her palms were sweaty and she was happy that he couldn't hear her heart beating as quickly as it was. He wrote out the words 'thank you' with his index finger against her palm and then released her hand so that he could show her the sign for the same thing. She gulped as she watched him and was relieved when the server returned with her drink. He bent over, picked up the notepad, and placed it on the table. Sam signed thank you to him and the man's eyes widened before he smiled and signed back 'you're welcome'.

"You can sign?" Mercedes asked the man in surprise.

He chuckled and shook his head. "Not really, I just picked up the main ones throughout my career. So now I know how to sign 'how are you' and 'you're welcome' mostly." She nodded and he grinned before he walked away. Her gaze fell back on to Sam and she couldn't help but goofily grin at him as he kept his head bent while reading his textbook. He suddenly looked up which startled her, she began to blush in embarrassment of getting caught staring at him. Sam reached forward and took her palm in his hand again. The feeling of his finger against her skin tickled her as he asked her a question.

She smiled widely at him. "Yea, I'm okay. I'm great actually." He watched her lips and nodded in satisfaction before turning the book towards her and underlined a sentence in the text that he found confusing. She reached over to take the pen and paper that was in front of him and explained what it meant as clearly as she could. A part of her thought that maybe university wasn't as bad as she thought it was after all.

A/N: Thanks to JG for helping me with this story too, you are amazing. For those who are reading, I hope you are kind of liking it so far, it's short I know, but I'm hoping it will get much longer as we go on. Feedback and love is always welcomed. Totally borrowed the hand writing thing from MMFD! (love that show)


	3. Chapter 3

Mercedes sat in her living room apartment, headphones snugly plugged into her ears, as she watched Youtube videos on learning how to Sign Language. She had found an amazing channel with a young man who was teaching the basics of American Sign Language, and she was trying her best to keep up so that she would be able to communicate more effectively with Sam. As she watched the video, she mimicked the motions and took notes for herself on a word document so that she wouldn't forget the signs when she saw him. He had taught her words such as 'hello' and 'my name is' and 'goodbye' as well as 'thank you' but she thought it would impress him if she was able to learn a lot more on her own. They had hung out once or twice since their meeting at the cafe, so that Mercedes could share her notes with him, even though she knew he had found someone else in his later class to type and email them to his inbox. It made her curious as to why he still needed hers, but she didn't want to jump to any conclusions. Sometimes she wondered if he liked her, but figured that he just preferred her notes because she explained them to him when they met up.

She stopped the video, closed her eyes, and decided to practice the sign for the word 'never'. It was easier for her to memorise new things if she couldn't see anything else around her as a distraction. When she opened them, she noticed that Santana was staring at her with wide amused eyes. Mercedes quickly pulled her headphones out of her ears and cleared her throat. She wasn't entirely sure what Santana would think about her learning Sign Language and she really didn't feel the need to share anything with her psychotic roommate.

"Um...hey." She said slowly as she studied the other woman's face. "How was..." She paused, "Wait, do you even go to school?" During the few weeks that she had already been attending the University, she had never seen Santana studying or with any textbooks at home. Santana rolled her eyes at the question and stuffed a spoon filled with peanut butter into her mouth. Mercedes looked down at the woman's hands and noticed the half eaten jar, which she was pretty sure was hers.

"Why go to school when all of the lectures get posted online? Ain't nobody got time for that." She scoffed before she plopped herself down beside Mercedes on the couch and stared hard at her as she sucked on the spoon. The shorter woman closed her laptop and shifted uncomfortably under the intense gaze. "So Chaka, do you have something that you want to tell me?" Santana pointed the spoon in Mercedes' direction. She had no idea what the woman was talking about and raised an eyebrow.

"No... Why? And is that my peanut butter?" She furrowed her eyebrows and folded her arms across her ample chest. Mercedes didn't mind sharing food with people, but the least that Santana could have done was ask for her permission first.

Santana shook her head and stuffed her dirty spoon back in the jar which made Mercedes cringe. "First of all, you're lying about something, and I'm abouts to find out what it is. Second of all, a house that shares, cares, alright, so there's no more _yours_ or _mine. _Now it's all about _ours._ So yes, I am eating our peanut butter and I finished our bananas too."

"You finished MY bananas?!"Mercedes said angrily. "As far as I'm concerned, there is no ours, there's only mine, and you better buy me more peanut butter and bananas!" She pushed herself up from the couch determined to get away from the psychopath behind her, but Santana ran in front of Mercedes, blocking her way. "Listen, I'm not in a playing mood. You better move out of my way before I punch you in the boob."

"Whatever Weezy. I'm not scared of you just because you're in some gang alright." Santana stood her ground and placed her hands on her hips. "I have grapes and shit, that I'm kind of enough to share with you, so you should be saying thank you."

Mercedes narrowed her eyes. "Gang?! What gang?! What are you talking about?"

Santana rolled her eyes and laughed. "Go ahead and act all innocent Chaka, but I've been seeing you throw up gang signs all week okay. Hell I caught you brandishing one five minutes ago." She flipped her hair over her shoulder and Mercedes couldn't help the laugh and the snort that escaped from her as she realised what Santana was talking about. "Laugh it up chuckles, but getting involved with gangs can get you into some serious shit, so I'd be careful if I were you Lil Kim. If I see a tear under your eye, we're not sharing food anymore." With that she turned around, grabbed the jar of peanut butter, and disappeared into her own room down the hall. Mercedes couldn't stop laughing as she stood there shaking her head at the absurdity that was her roommate.

* * *

Mercedes sat in her usual spot at the cafe, with a cup of white hot chocolate, as she read a novel for fun. She was getting more and more invested in the book when the sounds of people arguing in front of her caught her attention. While trying to look inconspicuous, she looked up over the edge of her book, and stared at the two men who sat at the table ahead of her. They were speaking in hushed tones but she could still make out the conversation that the two were having.

"Jason...I thought, I thought you felt the same way about me...I...the other night we..." The man with the blonde dreads whispered to the dark haired man with green eyes. The dark haired man, Jason, shook his head and took a deep breath.

"Yea...the other night we were both drunk and it ...it was an accident you know...you're my best friend Ian. Let's not ruin that for us."

"Let's not ruin that for us? No you mean let's not ruin that for you!" Ian replied angrily and Mercedes sunk lower in her seat. She didn't do very well with embarrassing or awkward situations like these and she tried to ignore the conversation so that she wouldn't die from the second hand exposure to what was happening.

"Goddamnit Ian! Why do you have to make this so much more worse than it needs to be? Look we've been friends since we were like 8, do you really want to lose all of that because of a stupid thing that happened in the back of my car?" Jason spoke forcefully to the other man.

"Because it wasn't just a stupid thing to me. Because you held me close to you during the entire night. Because you weren't as fucking drunk as you'd like to pretend that you were because you're not able to accept the truth about yourself that we've both always known." Ian spoke quietly, but loud enough for her to hear. "Because you want to be with me, but you can't handle the realities that will come with that decision." Jason stared at Ian and quickly glanced over at Mercedes who immediately looked down after the eye contact. She could hear him clear his throat.

"Can we...please talk about this somewhere else...somewhere more private?" He whispered to the blonde man.

"Where did you have in mind? The back of your car?" Ian spat out. "I think we spoke about it enough, there's nothing left. Nothing."

"Ian, you're making a mistake...please don't do this. Let's just be friends, hang out...I just, I want you in my life, but...jesus Ian, please stop."

Mercedes glanced up and saw that the man with dreads had started to cry. "Leave me alone. Just go away." He said quietly to his friend. She watched Jason stare at the other man for a few moments before he got up and walked out of the cafe. Ian's body began to shake with silent tears from his spot on the chair. She knew that it could be a bad idea, but she just couldn't handle seeing others struggle when they were right in front of her, so she grabbed a Kleenex and stood up. Slowly she walked over to the crying man and sat down across from him at his table. He looked up at her with bright hazel eyes as she handed him the tissue. Staring at her for a moment, he took it from her, wiped his eyes, and blew his nose. "This is so embarrassing." He shook his head and tried to laugh through his embarrassment. "I'm such an idiot." Mercedes reached out and placed her hand on the stranger's.

"No you're not an idiot. I'm really sorry that I eavesdropped on the whole thing...I just know how it feels to fall for the wrong guy, who doesn't really want you at the end of it." She looked to the side and tried to push the negative memories away from her mind before she looked back at the man in front of her.

"Yea, especially when your friend is a 'straight' dude in love with his girlfriend." He rolled his eyes and then shrugged before he outstretched his hand. "I'm Ian." She smiled and shook the larger hand.

"Mercedes." He grinned and then took a deep breath.

"Well, I think I need to go for a walk and just...clear my mind you know? I just need to try to forget about that Harry Potter rip off." Mercedes laughed and felt her phone in her pocket vibrate.

"Sorry, excuse me." She said politely before she pulled out her phone and read a text from Sam asking her to meet him at the school library to study for an online quiz coming up. A smile graced her lips before she replied back. Turning her attention back to the man in front of her, she apologised again.

"I was going to invite you to come with me, but I know _that_ look anywhere." He smiled sadly and stood up. Mercedes was confused about what he was talking about. She was about to ask him, but thought better of it and stood up as well.

"I hope things get better for you Ian." He grinned and looked out the window as a couple passed by. She watched the sadness cross his face and she looked down at her hands.

"Thanks. Thanks for everything actually." He leaned forward and gave her a quick side hug before he grabbed his coat and left. She hoped that she did the right thing by getting involved in the situation. It was a good and a bad habit of hers to see someone who was struggling and end up trying to fix their problems for them. She remembered a time when her sister was having difficulties meeting men and was always upset about it, so one day Mercedes decided to make an online dating profile for her. Serena was livid with her little sister when she first found out about the profile and told her not to interfere, but she quickly changed her mind when Amir sent her a friendly message a week later. Taking a deep breath, she moved back to her table, packed up her things, and headed over to the school's library to meet up with Sam for their study session.

* * *

Mercedes looked through her phone for Sam's text message as she stepped into the library's elevator. After finding the message, she punched in the floor number that he had told her that he would be studying on. Once the elevator doors opened, she quietly moved through the tables and book stacks as she looked around for the tall blonde. She caught a glimpse of the left side of his body peeking out from behind one of the stacks and excitedly walked towards him with a grin. Her expression changed when she noticed that Sam's friend Puck was sitting across from him. He was staring at his textbook with intense concentration and obvious confusion. With a sigh, he looked up and wiggled his fingers in front of Sam, who in turn looked up at his friend. She watched Puck sign something quickly to Sam and pointed to the book on the table, Sam signed something back to his friend, and Puck nodded before his attention turned to Mercedes who was approaching. His eyes lit up and he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"Well hey there my little croissant." He said with enthusiasm. Mercedes laughed at the term of endearment and covered the side of her face in embarrassment.

She waved shyly as she finally approached the table and noticed that a girl of Asian descent was sitting beside Sam. He noticed her presence, looked up at her with a wide smile, and gave her the sign for hello. She signed back to him excitedly and he quietly chuckled at her enthusiasm. The girl beside him noticed the commotion and looked over at Mercedes with a grin.

_Hello my name is Mercedes._ Mercedes signed to the girl. The girl grinned and signed something very quickly to Mercedes that she didn't understand. Sam noticed her confusion and wrote down on his notepad so that she would get it.

**She said that her name's Tina and she's never met anyone with the name Mercedes before**

Mercedes read it and looked up at the girl, whose expression had turned sour. The girl 'Tina' began to quickly sign to Puck. He laughed and shook his head.

"No, she's not deaf." He said out loud and pulled out the chair beside him so that Mercedes could sit down. Tina looked at Mercedes with annoyance and back down at her textbook.

"Oh." The girl muttered and moved some of her hair behind her ear, which revealed a beige hearing aid in her left ear. Mercedes sat down uncomfortably beside Puck and almost jumped when Sam touched her hand lightly.

_How are you?_ He signed when she finally looked at him.

_Good. _She signed back with a small smile. He nodded and picked up his textbook to show her what page they were on.

"So, I don't think we ever had the pleasure of properly meeting." Puck said with a devilish grin. "I'm Noah, but you my little sugar cookie, can call me Puck." Mercedes laughed and shook his hand.

"I'm Mercedes, it's nice to properly meet you."

"I thought we were here to study." Tina said in annoyance and looked at Mercedes from under her eyelashes. Mercedes narrowed her eyes at the girl and tried to figure out what was making her act the way that she was. She didn't think she had done anything that would piss her off, but with some people you just really didn't know.

Puck rolled his eyes at the dark haired girl. "Listen, if you have a problem with us getting acquainted, you can turn down your hearing aids." Tina glared at him before she reached up to her ear and clicked a small switch and she did the same process to the other hearing aid in her right ear that Mercedes hadn't noticed before. Tina lightly squeezed Sam's hand and began to sign happily to him and he silently covered his mouth and laughed before looking at Puck.

Puck's jaw dropped and he began to quickly sign back at Tina, which caused Sam to laugh even harder until the point where tears fell from his eyes. Mercedes stared on in confusion as Tina and Puck continued to bicker with each other through signing and felt utterly left out of the situation. To her it felt like she had journeyed to a new country where everyone spoke a different language from hers, where she was definitely the outsider. She pulled her textbook out of her bag and focused all of her attention on it so that no one else would notice how lonely or out of place she felt. A heavy cool hand covered hers and she looked up into Sam's warm green eyes. He grinned at her before he picked up his chair, placed it beside hers, and grabbed his textbook from his side of the table. He took her hand in his and wrote on the palm of her hand with his finger, 'can you help me with this'. Flipping through the pages of the book, he pointed to question one and then looked at her. She forced herself to look away from his face and focused on the question in front of them. He handed her the notepad and she wrote out an explanation and underlined key phrases in the text with her index finger as she explained.

Sam reached out and took her hand in his again, 'You smell like vanilla', she laughed and raised an eyebrow at him. Her body wash was vanilla bean, but her perfume was floral and much stronger than the vanilla. She was surprised that he had picked it up and brought her wrist to her own nose to see if she could pick up the scent herself, it was very faint, but she could make it out. He took her hand again, 'I have a really good sense of smell', and then lightly laughed with a small sound escaping from his mouth.

**"**I can see that," She said slowly before she laughed. Puck watched the exchange between the two and grinned. When he looked over at Tina, her stare was fixated on the pair, and she looked extremely unhappy. She quickly closed her book, gathered up her things, nodded at Puck and walked away briskly. His eyebrow rose up, but Sam and Mercedes didn't seem to notice her exit as they communicated with each other. Puck yawned, closed up his book, and tapped Mercedes on the shoulder.

"Nice meeting you my curvaceous goddess, but I have to go." He said with a smile and then signed something to Sam quickly. Sam signed back with a smile, fished some keys out of his pocket, and threw them over to his friend. Mercedes caught the signs for home and see you in the exchange.

"See you later Puck." Once Puck was gone, Sam turned his attention back to Mercedes and then stood up. She watched as his shirt pulled up a little bit while he stretched and then looked back down at her book when he moved his chair to sit back down across from her. They studied for half an hour more before Sam closed his book and rubbed his eyes with exhaustion. Mercedes felt tired too, but she enjoyed being out and away from home for the time being. He reached for the notepad and pulled out his pen.

**Ready to go home?**

He slid it back over to her and she signed the word yes to him. He smiled at her and then gathered up his things and she followed his example and gathered up her own stuff. They made their way down to the first floor in a comfortable silence before he held the door open for her and walked with her to the subway. She glanced at him from time to time and noticed that he seemed to be in deep thought.

They passed by a homeless man on the street and Sam stopped for a moment while he fished through his pockets for some change which he handed to the man. Mercedes reached into her own pocket and handed the man a five dollar bill that she had gotten back as change when she had gone to the cafe earlier. He thanked both of them and the pair walked off. They stood by the subway stairs staring at each other before Sam outstretched his arms and she walked into them and he gave her a warm firm hug. He pulled back from her, playfully pinched her cheeks with a grin, and she swatted his hands away with a laugh. Sam cocked his head to the side and put his hand up, bending his four fingers up and down towards his palm, the sign for goodbye. She mimicked the motion before she turned around and headed towards the stairs. A gentle tug on her coat kept her from walking down and she turned to face the blonde man, he pulled her hand into his and wrote, 'Drinks on Friday?' She tried not to laugh as the question mark tickled her palm and then looked into his eyes.

"Yes." She said with a nod.

_Good_, he signed the word happily and then shoved his hands into his pockets before he walked away. Mercedes stood there unsure of what the invitation meant, but she couldn't wait to get home and tell her sister.

A/N: Alright this chapter was a little bit longer, sorry that it was not by much. I'm astounded by the interest in the story and I really hope that you guys like wherever it goes, thank you so much for the support. Thanks to JG for helping me with everything!


	4. Chapter 4

The bright eyed, blonde haired man sat comfortably on his living room floor surrounded by piles of his favourite comic books. He had brought them with him, all the way from his family home in sunny California, three years before when he had moved into his University residence on a cool fall day one September. The sketchbook that was propped up on his knee began to fall as he found himself lost in thought. He finally noticed it when it knocked his hand on its way down to the ground and he picked it up with a soft sigh as he continued to finish up the comic strip panel he was working on. Sam had been in love with comic books for as long as he could remember.

The idea of people, who looked ordinary but were actually extraordinarily different from everyone else, always resonated with him to an extremely deep level. He knew that many people didn't realise that he was deaf when they first met him and their reactions varied from pity to complete and utter fascination. As he grew up, he learned to embrace his differences and instead he began to view them as unique superhero-like abilities. The fact that he was able to read lips quite well always amazed people considering that many other people who were deaf often found it difficult to do. He also had a heightened sense of smell which could be considered a curse or a blessing depending on where he was, for instance, he was currently in his apartment #409B but he could smell his neighbours smoking weed in the apartment two floors above him. Puck had told him to tell him when they were toking up so that he could crash and join them, but Sam thought better of it and kept his hands shut.

His tongue stuck out from the corner of his mouth as he concentrated on his art and finished up drawing the hearing aid in his heroine's ear. His character, Mona, was based off of a girl he had met during a festival that was held for the Deaf community back in California when he had been 14. From a hormonal teenaged Sam's perspective, she was the most beautiful girl that had ever existed. The pair had spent the entire day together, signing away like mad men, and at the end of it he had scored her email. They messaged each other frequently over the next few months, but as time dragged on, they had ended up drifting apart.

He stared at his drawing and grinned as he thought about her. Sometimes he wondered if he ever got his comic books published, if she would recognize herself within them. He was still thinking about it when a large and heavy hand landed on his shoulder, startling him in the process. Sam looked up into Puck's hazel eyes and smiled warmly at his best friend who was gently pushing the comic books to the side so that he could plop down on the ground. The blonde brushed his hair out of his eyes, placed his sketchbook on the ground, and tucked his pencil behind his ear.

_What's up?_ Sam signed to Puck who looked a little off to him for some reason. Puck shrugged and scratched the shaved side of his head, a habit he always had for as long as Sam had known him. He usually did it when he was upset by something or agitated, usually it was both, but the blonde knew better than to push his friend when he got into those types of moods. Instead he rubbed his hands together and grabbed a comic book from one of the piles, that he thought the tanned skin man might have enjoyed. He handed it over to him to look at. Puck stared at it for a moment before thumbing his way through the pages and then looked up at the blonde across from him.

_People are messing with Jake. I might have to go home and deal with them._ Puck signed quickly and shook his head. _I'm pretty sure it's because he had to switch schools this year and the kids at his new school are crazy, they don't know how to deal with a kid who's deaf. _Sam frowned as memories flooded back to his own experiences dealing with individuals who had treated him badly because of his exceptionality. Prior to high school, Sam had been homeschooled by his parents his entire academic career. But it came to a point where he felt like he needed to get out and make some friends, so he begged his parents to send him to a real high school with kids other than his siblings. They finally agreed and Sam was on his way to a bittersweet experience. Before he could slip back into the negative mindset that he had worked so hard to overcome, he shook his head to refocus his thoughts back to Puck.

_Do you want me to talk to him?_ Sam asked which caused Puck to scowl, the blonde sighed,_ You can't fly all the way back home, especially not to fight with a bunch of teenagers. _Puck rolled his eyes and Sam could see him mutter something under his breath. He touched his friend's foot to get his attention. _You know I'm right jerk. I can talk to some of my friends and have them check in with him._ Puck folded his arms across his chest in defiance. _Listen, Big John might be deaf, but he's the size of a house and if he goes over there, they might leave Jake alone._ Puck stared at Sam for a few moments before he slowly nodded and mouthed the word fine. The green eyed man smiled and then playfully punched Puck's foot, which caused him to give a small smile. They sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments, as they focused on their own thoughts, until Puck flung a comic at Sam's chest like a Frisbee which earned him a green eyed glare.

He ran his hand through his Mohawk with a mischievous smile and raised an inquisitive eyebrow at his roommate. _So, what happened with you and the sexy queen after I left the library? _Sam rolled his eyes and picked up his sketchbook.

_Nothing. _Sam signed with a non-committal shrug and then bit the end of his pencil, _Well I asked her to get some drinks with me on Friday, but that was it._ Puck wiggled his eyebrows up and down as he grinned at his friend which caused Sam to quietly laugh. _It's not like that._

_It's not like what?_ Puck teased_._

_It's not a date or something._ Sam shrugged again and absent mindedly added a detail to his drawing. _Women like her don't think of men like me like that. They more see the friendship thing and I'm happy with that. It makes life less ...complicated._ He signed hesitantly as he actually gave the situation some thought. It didn't bother him to think that Mercedes would only want to be friends. To him it made logical sense for their friendship to go that way considering that in his world, hearing girls didn't necessarily jump at the chance to date boys who were deaf. It was an entire culture that they usually didn't understand and were rarely willing to even try to understand it.

_Whatever man, you asked that beautiful woman out for drinks. Sounds like a date to me. A sexy date more like it. _Sam watched Puck laugh and quickly threw his pencil at him, nailing him right in the forehead. Puck laughed even harder and continued to sign that it was a date no matter what Sam thought it was.

_It's not a date, Mercedes doesn't even look at me like that. Actually, you should come. I think you two would hit it off or whatever. And there will be booze which you love more than your hair._

Puck shook his head and his eyes widened. _First of all, that's racist for assuming we would hit it off because we both can hear and second of all, I'm after another hot mama's heart. Fourthly, I'm not crashing your date._ Sam narrowed his eyes and shook his head.

_It's not a date. Just grabbing a drink._

_Tomato, potato man. Two different names, but you still eat both._

Sam laughed and signed, _you don't like tomatoes._ He ducked as a comic whizzed by his head at an insane speed.

_Embrace the date and her... _Puck stood up and pointed to his ass with a smile before he walked by Sam, ruffled the blonde hair, and slipped away into his bedroom. Sam sat their grinning as he tried to fix his hair and he couldn't help the wide smile that spread across his lips as he looked down at his vibrating cell indicating that he had just received a text from Mercedes.

* * *

"No dad, I'm _not_ pregnant." Mercedes sighed as she stared glassy eyed at her father who had planned a Skype date with her every Friday until she graduated from University. He felt that the devil took over on Friday nights and he figured that if he could get there first, then Mercedes would stand a chance in the bustling city. "And so what if I was, you'd be a really blessed grandfather." She smiled smugly.

"Do I _look_ like a grandfather? Hell people think I'm still your younger brother when we go to church, yes they do. They say 'look at that attractive young man, I cannot believe he has two daughters older than eighteen, AND a grandbaby', he looks fifteen they say. Shoo, they call me 'all about the Benjamin's Button', praise Jesus!" Her father said from his side of the screen with a wide smile and Mercedes couldn't help the laugh that escaped from her. "You laugh but it's the truth, I am beating these church women off with sticks doused in holy water. They ask me about my handcuffs and whatnots and I tell them that they can commit a crime just like everyone else if they want to experience them." Mercedes laughed harder and then gave her father a serious stare.

"First off, you're already a grandfather, so accept your role and why don't you go on a date or something with one of those women? They've always been really friendly and always helped take care of Serena and me growing up, maybe it's time that...you put yourself out there 'Benjamin.'" She said the name with a smirk and her father shook his head and sipped on a glass of beer.

"The only ladies that I need in my life are you, your sister, and Bella. You know, let me rethink that, all I need is Bella. The other day I was babysitting her, and I swear to you I took my eyes off of her for two minutes and the child ended up down the street at the library like god damned Matilda. Now you explain to me how something like that could have happened." He laughed and sipped more of his beer.

"Maybe you should lay off the beer dad, you're beginning to sound crazy."

"Okay maybe it wasn't the library, but she did end up climbing into the closet. Good thing her diaper needed changing or I wouldn't have found her if I couldn't smell her stinky behind from across the apartment. POTENT stuff, I need to talk to your sister and figure out if she's feeding her human food, because that smell wasn't right." He rubbed his bald head which had a familiar shine.

"Stop losing Bella and get out and meet some people. On your off days, you're cooped up at home watching reruns of In Living Color." She tugged on the bottom of her old T-shirt as she spoke to him. He had loved her adoptive mother with everything he could and she understood that a love like that couldn't be replaced, but she thought that it was in his best interest to get out and meet some more people, make friends outside of the force.

"I meet new people every day! Yesterday I met a one legged prostitute who believed he was Michael Jackson's fourth child. The man tried to do the moonwalk for me..."He stared at her. "And I was impressed. So on my off days, I like to just be alone, in my drawers, watching my shows, and making sure that you're not getting involved with the wrong crowds."

Mercedes smiled. "I'm hanging out with really nice people. Actually, I'm going to hang out with some tonight."

"Mhm." Her father cocked his head to the side. "And what are their names?" Even through a computer screen the man was intimidating. She forced herself to look confident and smiled.

"Melanie C, Emma, Victoria, Melanie B, and Geri. They're really fun and a very spicy group of young women for sure, but extremely responsible at the same time so you don't have to worry about a thing." He narrowed his eyes for a moment and then smiled.

"Alright, well be safe and call me if something happens, I don't care what time. You just call me and let me know and I'll make a few calls for you. I love you alright and don't do anything crazy and stay away from people with penises, you're not ready for all of that."

"I'm 21." She raised an eyebrow.

"Shoo, I thought you were 22, in that case you are _way_ too young for all of that." He gave her a serious stern look and she wished she could have seen his face if she had told him the truth that she was going on a date, or whatever it was with Sam. She didn't want to get her hopes up that it was more than a friend's get together, but she couldn't help smiling as she created multiple scenarios of how things might have went that night. Sometimes she imagined them going out on to a veranda where it was windy and cold, then Sam would drape his coat around her shoulders and silently hold her against his chest. Other times, she imagined herself being able to sign fluently with him, and he would just continue to laugh at her jokes. Her face became slightly flushed as the ideas came back to her and she noticed that her dad was giving her a curious stare down.

"Alright dad, I have to go get ready, and you have to go...do whatever it is you enjoy doing over there." She said quickly so that he wouldn't notice her previous look. He looked like he had something to say, but then he thought better of it and smiled.

"Alright, just remember that if you wear something revealing make sure to bring your mace with you too. I love you and be safe! Stay with those girls and come up with a meeting spot like the women's bathroom or something or figure out a code if a guy keeps hitting on you. My favourite code is kick him in the balls, so feel free to use that one." He laughed and she smiled back.

"Thanks dad, I love you too." With that, she signed out of the Skype conversation, stood up, and stared at her open closet. She had her date clothes and then she had her hanging out clothes, but she wasn't sure what she would wear. A pair of leggings, a long stripped V-neck loose top, and a leather jacket was what she finally settled on to get some drinks with Sam. It wasn't exactly the sexy outfit she had pictured in her mind, but she assumed that it could work well enough. She was putting on the final touches to her makeup when she heard Santana's loud voice drift through the apartment.

"Who are you?!" Mercedes ran out of the bathroom in a panic and spotted an annoyed looking Santana peering through a cracked open front door. "Staring at me does not explain who you are and why you're on my doorstep. Oh now you're going to be all rude and text on your cellphone? Nope, not here for that."

"Santana! Wait." Mercedes yelled as she got closer to the door before Santana closed it. She peered out and saw the top of Sam's head as he texted quickly into his phone. Her pocket began to vibrate with his new message and then he looked up to see her staring back at him. He grinned at her and Mercedes pushed her roommate out of the way and opened the door for him. "Hey Sam." She said as he slipped into her apartment, he waved at her, and then shoved his hands into his jean pockets. She looked him over and couldn't help the heat that crept up her neck as she noticed how well his jeans fit his muscular legs and how his black v neck clung to his body, outlining his fit shape. When her eyes reached his face, she saw that he was looking her over at the same time, and she couldn't help the smile that graced her lips.

"Oh you know him?" Santana folded her arms over her chest. "You could at least get some friends who aren't rude as hell." She rolled her eyes at the pair. Sam stared at Santana's mouth as she spoke and his eyebrows rose up.

_What?_ He signed quickly to Mercedes and she couldn't help but shake her head in annoyance.

She pointed to Santana and then brought her finger up by her temple and made some circular motions, _She's crazy, sorry._ Sam nodded knowingly and smiled.

"Hold up, he's part of your gang?" Santana took a step back and eyed Sam down. Mercedes was tired of dealing with the woman and had enough of her stupidity.

"I'm not in a gang you jackass." She was about to give her a piece of her mind when Santana interrupted her.

"Oh! Then he's deaf." Mercedes stared at her with one eye squinted and the other widened. "That's all you had to say, no need to make it all about you and your insults Aretha." Sam held out his phone to Mercedes and she shook her head immediately once she read the message he had typed on there. He gave her an odd look and she got worried that he would think she was being rude. With a sigh, she looked at her roommate who was unfortunately still standing there and took a deep breath before forcing herself to ask the dreaded question.

"We're going for drinks...do you want to come with us?" Santana raised an eyebrow and looked at Sam who was smiling at her and then at Mercedes who was scowling.

"Are you going to try to drag me into a threesome, because I've never done it with a deaf dude before so I don't know how that all works and stuff? You know what I mean, plus I'd be scared that you'd get emotionally and sexually attracted to me which I don't think either of you could handle to be honest." Mercedes' mouth dropped open and Sam began to silently laugh with small bursts of snorts as he had read her lips and understood most of what she had said to them.

"No! We're just going for drinks and neither of us is interested in doing you thanks." She was more speaking for herself but she hoped that Sam felt the same way and was not interested in getting into Santana's pants. Mercedes silently prayed that Santana would state that she was more important than them and would decline Sam's invitation.

"Well least I know that _he _won't bore me with conversation and those lips look good enough to suck on if I get drunk enough. So yea, give me ten minutes." She spun on her heels and quickly made her way into her bedroom. Mercedes slowly looked at Sam and noticed that his face had turned red from blushing. He quickly looked over at her and shrugged before he made his way over to one of their couches. She slowly sat down beside him, leaving space between them, and fought the urge to cry. She was mad at herself for building things up in her mind when Sam obviously didn't feel the same way about her, or else he wouldn't have invited her evil roommate with them. His phone made its way to her lap and she looked down at it with blurred eyes.

**You smell really good Mercedes. **

Taking a deep breath and hoping that her eyes didn't look red, she looked up at him and smiled. _Thank you Sam._ He smiled and glanced at her from under his eyelashes before he nodded. Santana walked out of her bedroom wearing a skin tight black mini dress and black pumps with red bottoms. Mercedes narrowed her eyes at the other woman.

"We're going to get drinks, not going to a club." Santana shrugged and shoved some items into her clutch purse.

"Listen, I dress to look good and just because you don't seem to care about getting laid, doesn't mean that I don't have to." Mercedes quickly looked over at Sam and was happy that he was busy texting instead of paying attention to the conversation that was happening between the roommates. She quickly stood up and grabbed her coat from the arm of the other couch in the living room. In her frustration she struggled to slip the item on and was startled when she felt strong arms holding hers to stop moving. She looked back to see Sam looking down at her coat as he helped her pull the sleeves up her arms. When she was finished, he turned her around and made sure the coat was properly on her before his green eyes found her brown ones. They stood there staring at each other as his hands absentmindedly rubbed her jacket covered arms. "Yo, big lips and Chaka!" Mercedes jumped back from Sam and he looked at her in confusion as he had not heard Santana's comment.

"Don't call him that." She all but growled at the leggy Latina woman. "His name is Sam." Santana started to laugh and shook her head.

"I'll call him whatever I want to Aretha, calm your large sized tits. He can't even hear me call him that."

"Which makes it even ruder that you're calling him that without him knowing that you're saying it to him." Mercedes clenched her hands into two fists. Sam watched the interaction with an amused expression. Santana stared hard at Mercedes and then typed something quickly into her phone before she handed it to Sam without ever taking her eyes away from the shorter woman. Sam looked at the message and silently laughed and gave her a quick nod with a smile. Santana rolled her eyes at Mercedes and walked out of the apartment. They stood there staring after her for a few seconds before Sam took Mercedes hand and wrote out 'Trouty lips? That's a new one.' When she looked at his face, he seemed entirely cool and collected, whereas she was fuming at the name. She forced a small smile before they followed Santana's lead and found her downstairs trying to hail a cab.

She looked over her shoulder and shrugged. "It's about time, ebony and ivory." They slipped into the cab and headed off to the bar that Sam had texted to Mercedes. It was a nice lively place that resembled a country bar but was playing more upbeat music. Santana looked extremely out of place, but she didn't care too much about that as random men constantly sent drinks to their table for her. "Now this is my kind of place!" She said happily as she sipped down the various colorful drinks. Sam sucked down a Heineken and Mercedes drank her rum and coke. When they had gotten to the bar, Mercedes had been worried about how Sam was going to place his orders, but he simply wrote down what he wanted on his phone and slipped it to the bartender. It was such a simple action and she was surprised that she hadn't even thought about it herself. "You guys are boring me, I'm going to go mingle with that guy." She pointed to a guy who was eyeing her down from the bar and walked away.

Sam had understood the gist of what she had said and then moved to Santana's seat so that he was across from Mercedes instead of sitting beside her.

_How she and that I like but...what the and its okay. _He signed quickly to her before he finished drinking his beer. Mercedes pretended to understand what he had signed to her, but she realised that she had a lot to learn in terms of sign language. Sam looked around for a few moments before his eyes settled on her and he smiled. She smiled back and let her eyes wander down to his V-neck which had tugged down a bit since they had gotten to the bar. She was surprised to see a few tattooed Chinese characters peeking through the corners of the V cut and was about to ask him what they meant when Sam began to wave. She turned around and watched Puck walk up to them with a bottle of beer clasped tightly in his hand. He signed hello to the both of them and then took a seat beside Mercedes.

"Hey there sexy lady." He winked at her and sucked on his beer.

"What a small world that we just randomly bumped into you here." She laughed as she finished off her drink. Her eyes looked around to make sure that Tina wasn't about to randomly pop out of nowhere too.

He laughed and fist pumped Sam. "Not really, Sam said a friend of yours came, so he invited me to come too." Mercedes looked over at Sam in confusion, but he didn't notice the expression as he finished off his drink and stared at the bar. She followed his gaze to see him looking at Santana and her heart felt like someone was squeezing it.

"Oh...can I have some of your beer? Thanks." She replied without waiting for Puck to answer as she chugged back his beer, much to his amazement. Sam suddenly stood up and walked over to Santana at the bar. Mercedes couldn't handle it and pulled Puck up to dance with her on the crowded dance floor. She was extremely confused about what was going on and everything that she had hoped would happen for the night, seemed like it wouldn't happen.

"Woah mama, you are one fast lady." He laughed as they moved quickly to the upbeat music.

"Yea, I just really wanted to get moving to this song. It's my favorite for sure." She lied as she danced her frustration away. A part of her wondered why Sam had even invited her to get drinks when he obviously didn't even want to be alone with her. He invited her roommate and then he invited his best friend to come too, which made absolutely no sense to her. If she hadn't seen how he was looking at Santana, she might have assumed that maybe he had invited Puck for her roommate so that he could be alone with Mercedes. But she highly doubted that now. Puck began to wave his hands in front of her face and she looked up at him.

"You okay sweet lips? You seem a little distracted or something." He said with sincere concern.

"No, I'm awesome." She forced a smile and looked back towards the bar to see that the pair was gone.

"Okay good, because I wanted to ask you something." Puck put his hands around her waist and brought her closer against his body. A slight gasp escaped her lips as they moved against each other.

"Uh, sure go ahead. Shoot away." She laughed awkwardly as they swayed together to the music.

"Do you, you know, have a thing for my bro Sam?" His hazel eyes held hers for a moment as she thought about his question. It was a question she had avoided asking herself so that she didn't fall for a guy that she wasn't even sure really wanted her. She couldn't do that again to herself. Suddenly a warm hand touched her shoulder and she looked over to see Sam grinning at her while he danced beside them with Santana.

"I couldn't resist his trouty charm I guess." She laughed as she wrapped her arms around the blonde's neck. Mercedes could already tell that the other woman had drunk too much already with how sluggish her body was moving. She narrowed her eyes at Sam's hands on her hips and then looked back at Puck who was smiling at the other pair.

"No. I definitely don't and I have to go sorry." She pulled out of his hold, gave Sam and Santana a quick wave, before she quickly made her way out of the bar and on to the bustling sidewalk. Wiping away the tears that had been building up within her, she pulled out her phone and called the only person in the world she that she wanted to speak to at the moment. She hopped into one of the cabs that were lined along the street and barked out her address.

A groggy and tired voice answered the phone. "Cedes?" Just hearing his voice made her cry even harder. "Cedes, what's happening, what's wrong?"

His concern finally broke the leaking dam as she cried harder because of the disappointment of the night she had. "Mike, I wish you were here right now." She cried into the phone as the cab driver looked at her through his rear-view mirror. "I really, really do."

A/N: There's chapter 4 folks! It was longer yay! I really appreciate the reviews and I secretly dance for each one, so I'd love for them to continue coming my way if you have the time, I want to know what you think is going to happen, how you feel about the characters, etc. I would like to thank JG for everything as usual and I want to thank you guys for reading, following, and liking it.


	5. Chapter 5

The black haired, tan skinned woman pulled the cool pillow snug against her chest and took a deep breath as she slowly awoke from her drunken slumber. Her head was pounding and her mouth tasted of a mixture of strong alcohol mixed with something sour and foul, which indicated to her that she must have thrown up at some point the night before. She groaned as she rolled her sore body over and shielded her closed eyes as a bright light hit her face, alerting her that she must have been facing a window or lamp of some kind. After a few moments of trying to get her jumbled thoughts together, she opened one of her eyes and peeked at the window that was facing her. Panic began to bubble up within her as she opened her other eye and looked around the unfamiliar room with an abundance of comic book merchandise and paraphernalia that littered almost every surface as well as the wall. Her eyes travelled down to the pillow that she clutched to her body and painfully rolled her sore eyes at the X-Men pillow case that adorned it. "Shit." She grumbled as she pulled herself to sit up in the comfortable bed. Her entire body ached and her vision was still slightly swimming as she fought off the alcohol that remained in her system. Santana looked at the ground and noticed that her heels had been neatly placed beside the bed. Her sweaty black dress clung to her body and as a habit she reached up to comb her fingers through her hair, only to realise that it had been tied back with what felt like a rubber band of some kind. Sighing, she slowly swung her legs over the side of the bed and raised an eyebrow as she looked down at a bruise that was on her left thigh. Her hand found its way to her forehead as she took a deep breath and tried to recall what had happened the night before.

Santana remembered being by herself in her bedroom, wrapped up in a warm blanket, as she prepared for a lonely night with a random movie on Netflix. She didn't entirely mind being alone, but at times, even for her, it became too much to handle. Many people found her abrasive personality off-putting, which in all honesty it was, but it was something that she couldn't help most times. Her family life had been difficult for her and she never really learned how to be social with people or how to connect with them normally. At home, she usually received attention by doing something negative or for acting a certain way, because nobody noticed a perfect child, but a bad one managed to secure all of the attention. Her grandmother had been her security blanket, the only one who would support Santana for anything she chose to be, but once Santana realised who she was, her grandmother turned her back on her and chose not to accept it. Rejection in any form could destroy a person, but Santana was too strong to destroy, yet she was weak enough to break.

Prior to living with Mercedes, she preferred to live alone. Generally she got along with males, but females...females she just couldn't connect with, no matter how hard she tried to. Mercedes seemed nice enough and Santana respected the fact that the shorter woman called her out on her shit. She genuinely wanted to be on good terms with the other woman, but could never figure out what was the right thing to say, or to do. Sharing food seemed to be an action that friends normally did, but when she had attempted it herself, it had backfired horrifically. Normally, she didn't need anyone's approval or friendship, but Mercedes was her first roommate and Santana wanted it to be a good experience. _That _was exactly the reason why she had agreed to go out to the bar with her and the guy with the large lips. She thought it would be a good way to be around her roommate outside of their apartment where they could share some drinks and finally relax around each other, but as she looked around, she knew that her plan had ultimately flopped.

This wasn't the first time that Santana had woken up in a stranger's bed, but it was the first time that she didn't remember how she had gotten there in the first place. After a few moments, she picked up her heels, slowly opened the door, and quietly crept out of the bedroom. The sound of someone's deep laughter echoed through the sparsely furnished apartment. Taking a deep breath, she stomped towards the kitchen and stared at two young men sitting down at a wooden circular table, who were both eating cereal and signing back and forth to each other. One of the men had a mohawk and she didn't recognize him at all, but she remembered the blonde one who was wearing black framed glasses, grey sweat pants, and a Bazinga T-shirt. Dramatically, she dropped her pumps to the ground with a loud clatter and placed her hands on her hips. The man with the mohawk's hand froze in midair as he was about to scoop some cereal into his mouth and looked over at her with amusement, but the blonde continued to eat. The hazel eyed man kicked his friend under the table and he quietly groaned before he finally saw her from the corner of his eye. The blonde looked over at her in confusion. Santana cracked her neck from side to side and sighed, "Now which one of you dorks got friendly with my lady parts last night?"

Friday Night-Sam's Perspective

The blonde slowly turned off the shower and stood quietly in his bathtub for a few minutes as he tried to calm down the nerves that were building up in his firm stomach. The steamy cool air ghosted across his naked body as he leaned forward and braced his forehead against the cool white tile of the wall. He reached up and ran his large hand over his slick wet hair and took a deep breath as his mind and heart continued to race. This was exactly what he had tried to avoid happening. As much as he had been determined to not have feelings for the shorter woman, they were developing anyway, and he was nervous. When he initially asked Mercedes out for drinks, he had told himself that it was just because he thought that she was a nice person and he just wanted to get to know her better. However, as he started to get ready for their hangout, he started to worry about things that he normally didn't care about. He wondered if she would think he looked out of place at the bar, or if she would try to order his drinks for him, or if she would quickly get bored with his company and just leave. Sighing, he wiped the water away from his eyes, stepped out of the tub, and grabbed a towel from the rack in the corner before tightly wrapping it around his waist. He could see his phone on the counter slightly move from the corner of his eyes. With a raised eyebrow, he picked it up and smiled at the message: **Excited for drinks tonight Sam! See you soon J**, he didn't even know what he was worried about. They were going to have a good time and grab a few drinks, what could possibly go wrong?

Sam made his way to the address that Mercedes had texted to him. She had told him her buzzer, floor, and apartment number, but the pair quickly realised that it would be a complicated process for Sam to buzz her when he couldn't hear her open the door for him. This was why they decided that he would text her when he was downstairs and she would come down and meet him outside. Yet, as luck would have it, Sam arrived at her apartment building at the same time as someone else that lived there and they kindly held the door open for him allowing him to get inside. He genuinely enjoyed the idea of surprising her once he got upstairs. Once he got to her door, he ran a hand through his semi-wet hair, took a deep breath, covered the peephole with his thumb, and knocked, hoping that it wasn't too loud. The door opened a crack and he could slightly see a taller woman glaring at him from the other side. He could tell that she was speaking to him, but because her face was mostly obscured, he couldn't exactly tell what she was saying and he didn't know how to ask her if Mercedes lived there. Flustered, he looked down at his phone to confirm that he was actually in the right place. He decided to text Mercedes to tell her that he was at her door and then he looked up to try to apologise to the woman he had bothered. A grin broke across his face when he noticed Mercedes peering at him through the somewhat opened door and he was filled with a sense of relief when she finally opened it for him. He could tell that she was saying his name and he decided that he liked the way that her full mouth formed the word. Embarrassed at his thoughts, he waved quickly and stuffed his hands into his jean pockets, before his eyes effortlessly wandered over to her outfit. He couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked and a small part of him hoped that she had made the effort for him, but then he scolded himself for thinking in that way. Sam looked up in time to see that the other woman, who he assumed was Mercedes roommate, was speaking and she looked severely annoyed. He stared at her lips to figure out what she was saying, but he figured that he must have missed out on what she had said because it hadn't made any sense to him.

_What?_ He signed to Mercedes and hoped that she would be able to explain what was going on. When she told him that the other woman was crazy, he tried not to laugh, but instead nodded and smiled at the new information. A part of him wondered if she was legitimately insane or if she was 'crazy' like Puck. He looked at her laid back clothing and was curious why she was staying home alone on a Friday night. Sam knew what it felt like to be excluded from going out with friends because he couldn't watch a particular movie since there was no closed captioning for it, or not being invited to go out to clubs or parties because his 'friends' figured that he wouldn't be able to do anything there since he couldn't hear the music. It was why all of his current close friends were people who were very familiar with Deaf culture and understood the importance of inclusion and not exclusion. Sam hardly got close to people who were outside of that community because it was difficult for both sides, but Mercedes had shown interest in the culture and he was not about to exclude her from it. He didn't know the other woman in front of him, but he thought it would be polite to see if she would like to go with them. He grabbed his phone from his pocket and typed out a quick message to show to Mercedes.

**You can invite your friend to come with us if you want, you don't have to though.**

He watched her quickly shake her head no and his heart began to beat quickly. If Mercedes wanted to be alone with him, then that could potentially mean that she wanted him all to herself, or maybe he was just being delusional and she simply didn't like the black haired woman. He looked up to find the other woman staring at him with a raised eyebrow, so he smiled at her.

"Are you going to try to ... a threesome, because I've never ... with a deaf dude before so I don't know ... all works and stuff? ... plus I'd be scared that you'd get emotionally and sexually attracted to me ... think either of you could handle to be honest." Stunned, Sam began to silently laugh with small bursts of snorts as he had read her lips and understood most of what she had said to them. He was confused about what had spurred on a conversation such as that one and figured that Mercedes must have invited her roommate with them. He flushed with embarrassment at the realisation that he had thought Mercedes would have wanted to be alone with him, but instead she had invited her roommate anyways. When he looked over at her, he noticed that she was staring at him and he hoped that she hadn't noticed him blushing. Shrugging the thought off, he walked over to one of the couches in the living room and assumed that they were going to wait for the other girl to throw on some going out clothes. He watched Mercedes sit at a considerable distance away from him and he slightly worried that he had done something wrong. The sweet floral scent of her perfume wafted towards his nose and he wished that he could have been sitting closer to her in order to fully enjoy the fragrance. He pulled out his phone and wrote a quick message telling her that she smelled good and hoped that he didn't sound overly creepy considering that it was the second time he had commented on her aroma. Sam felt elated when she looked up at him and smiled, thanking him for the comment. He enjoyed being able to make her smile once in awhile. His phone began to vibrate in his hand and he opened the text message from Puck.

**P: Dude how's the date going?**

**S: It's not a date, her roommates coming too.**

**P: WTF? How'd that happen...is she at least hot?**

**S: I asked Mercedes if she wanted her to come and she asked her and yea, I guess.**

**P: Bro, you're an idiot, why'd you even ask?**

**S: She seemed like she was going to be home alone, so I asked. I was trying to be nice.**

**P: Dumb move man, but I'll come to your rescue and keep the other chick busy. She better be hot too bro, or you owe me munchies and beer...lot's o beer.**

**S: Bro, don't come, it's cool. I got it.**

**P: You're going to that country place right? With the cheap drinks?**

**S: Ye.**

**P: Cool meet you there.**

Sam sighed and rolled his eyes at his persistent best friend. He turned his body to tell Mercedes that Puck was going to come with them, but she quickly stood up and grabbed her coat from the other chair. Her body language seemed upset, but he wasn't entirely sure why. He watched her struggle with her coat and he immediately hopped up to help her put it on. She had gotten it all twisted with how quickly she was moving, so he straightened it out so that she could properly put it on. He gently turned her around to make sure that the coat looked fine at the front and then his eyes found hers. Sam had never noticed how doe like her eyes were before and he couldn't help but stare into the brown warm orbs. The nerves in his stomach began to come back as they looked at each other and he nervously bit his lip as he instinctually leaned in towards her. He immediately stopped and frowned in confusion when she quickly pulled away from his arms. Mercedes definitely had no feelings for him and he needed to stop embarrassing himself. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and looked up to see the two women sharing heated words about something that he wasn't entirely sure about. The taller woman approached him with her phone and handed it to him.

**Can I call you trouty lips?** Sam looked at the message and laughed before nodding. It was definitely an odd nickname, but he had known worse before and learned not to really care about what people called him, especially because he could never actually hear it. The woman rolled her eyes and walked out of the apartment, leaving the two behind to stare after her in confusion and anger. Sam noticed how annoyed Mercedes looked, so he tried to distract her by laughing at the name that the long haired woman had decided to call him. She looked up at him with her doe eyes and gave him a small smile, which was more than he could have asked for.

When they had gotten to the bar, they ordered their drinks, Sam paid for them, and then the trio sat down at a table in the corner. They all sat their awkwardly as different waitresses dropped off multiple drinks for Santana. He had finally learned what her name was from Mercedes when they had ordered their drinks. When he looked at Mercedes from the corner of his eye, he noticed that she was absentmindedly staring into her glass tumbler as if it held the secrets of the world at the bottom of it. Sighing, he chugged back his beer and stared at Santana drinking her free drinks like they were water instead of strong liquor. At the rate she was going at he knew that she was going to be blackout drunk pretty soon if she wasn't careful. He watched as she crunched on some ice in her mouth before she rolled her eyes, said something, and then pointed towards the bar before she got up and left the table, staggering slightly as she went. Sam moved from his seat to the vacant one so that he would be facing Mercedes instead of just sitting beside her, that way he could entertain her with his facial expressions.

He drank more of his beer, looked around to see if Puck was there yet, and then let his eyes do what they actually wanted to do and let them finally settle on Mercedes. Much to his surprise, he found that she was already looking at him when he looked at her and they smiled shyly at one another. It slightly saddened him that his hunch had been right and that hearing women like her weren't interested in men like him, but he would make do with whatever else developed in their friendship. He felt as if someone was staring at him and looked up to see Puck walking towards them with a grin on his face. Sam rolled his eyes and waved his friend over to their table, he had completely forgotten to tell Mercedes that the other man was coming and hoped that she wouldn't be mad. Puck signed hello to them and plopped down beside Mercedes which didn't bother Sam, but when the pair faced each other and began speaking he felt slightly left out of their conversation. Puck looked over at him and fist pumped him, before he continued his conversation with Mercedes, annoyed, Sam looked towards the bar and noticed that Santana looked extremely drunk and angry. He couldn't exactly tell what she was saying from the distance that he was at, but he could tell that she was yelling and it put him on the alert, especially when the man that she was with grabbed her by the wrist. Sam didn't know what was going on, but whatever it was, he didn't like it. He quickly stood up and walked over to the couple at the bar in time to see Santana throw her drink in the face of the man she was with. Sam managed to slip in between them so that he was standing in front the fiery onyx haired woman and the man who slightly resembled a dwarf from The Hobbit. He could feel Santana pushing on his back and he could feel her struggling to attack the man who stood in front of Sam, the man in turn was yelling something at Sam that he wasn't able to read. Not knowing what to do, he signed the word stop repeatedly. Finally the man flipped them the bird and walked away, Sam sighed in relief that the situation hadn't escalated into a fight. He turned around and stared at Santana whose face had turned red either from the alcohol or the anger that had built up inside of her. She put her hand to her forehead and finally looked at Sam as if she had just noticed him being there for the first time. He put his hand out for her to take and walked with her between the crowds of people back to their table in the corner. When they reached the table, he was surprised to see that Mercedes and Puck were missing. Sam dropped Santana's hand and looked around quickly for the other two. He spotted them dancing together on the dance floor. His eyes narrowed at the sight and then he looked down at the ground in frustration. Puck said that he was coming to keep her roommate busy, but from the look of things he seemed like he wanted to get busy with Mercedes instead. Sam looked up and dragged his hand over his face as he thought of what to do. He decided that he could leave, but he knew that it wouldn't solve anything. More than anything, he needed to know what the hell Puck was doing. After a few more seconds, he touched Santana's shoulder and pointed to the dance floor. She looked at it and then begrudgingly nodded. Sam hated dancing more than anything in his entire life. His inability to hear the music made it hard for him to move in time to the tunes and he generally could only feel the bass of the music, if it was loud enough, through his feet if he was standing still. They walked up to the couple on the dance floor and Sam touched Mercedes' shoulder to say hi. Santana wrapped her arms around Sam's neck much to his surprise and he held on to her hips so that she didn't fall down drunk in front of him. By the time he looked at the other two again, Mercedes was waving goodbye and practically running away from the dance floor. Sam looked at Puck in confusion and noticed the same expression on his friend's face.

_What did you do?_ He signed angrily as Santana clung to his neck for life.

_I didn't do anything man, I just asked her some things._ _Stuff. _Puck shrugged and bit his lip.

_Some things? Like what?_

_I asked her if she liked you, that's it._

_WHY? _Sam stared at his friend in disbelief before he moved Santana into Puck's arms. _I have to find her._ He ran out of the bar and looked up and down the sidewalk for the shorter woman. He hopped into a taxi and showed the driver her address. The man nodded and they quickly sped off to her apartment building. Sam continued to text her and asked her if she was okay, or if she was feeling sick, but she never answered him. He rubbed his neck in frustration and wondered how the night could have gone to complete crap that quickly. Once he got to her building, he stood outside and continuously texted her asking her to come downstairs to talk with him. After ten minutes and no reply, he leaned against the building unsure of what to do. His phone began to vibrate and he pulled it out with eagerness, but it was just Puck.

**Dude, what are we supposed to do with her roommate? She's passing out on me.**

Sam scratched his head and then realised that Santana could get him into the apartment so that he could get her to bed and then talk to Mercedes. It was the perfect plan.

**Check her purse thing for keys. **He texted and waited for a few minutes before Puck texted him back with a reply.

**Dude...she only has condoms, perfume, and some mints in this thing...No keys.** Sam groaned quietly before he plopped down on the curb and tried to figure out what to do next. They couldn't just leave her in front of the building and he couldn't get a hold of Mercedes to open the door. Maybe a hotel? No, that would cost Sam a lot of money that he really didn't have and he had already spent too much money on the cab fare alone.

**Mercedes won't answer my texts so she can't open the door. Take Santana to our place, I'll deal with her from there.**

**K bro. Sorry.**

**It's cool.**He was still annoyed with Puck, but what could he do? Yell at the guy? He knew that Puck used to be a complete asshole when they were teenagers, but he hadn't done anything to hurt Sam since back in high school. His roommate's actions may have messed things up for him and Mercedes, but Sam knew that Puck's intentions had probably been good. After a few odd looks from people passing him on the sidewalk, he got up and texted Puck to call a taxi for him. It was a long lonely ride for the blonde as he contemplated why Puck's question would have made Mercedes react in such a negative way. He figured that she might have been so disturbed by the idea of liking him that she had simply run away. She probably thought that he had been the one to make Puck ask her that. He quietly groaned in the cab before he made it to his own building and took the elevator to his floor. Fishing for his keys, he opened the door and looked around the brightly lit apartment, but he didn't see Puck or Santana. He looked into the kitchen and then Puck's room before he found his roommate and Santana in the bathroom on the floor. Her head was resting on the side of the toilet and Puck was behind her holding her hair to the side. Sam scrunched up his face as the pungent smell hit his nose. Puck slowly looked at his roommate and held up one of his Air Jordan's that had orange throw up all over the front part of it. Sam fought the urge to laugh at his friend's misfortune.

_I guess we're even now._ Sam signed with a raised eyebrow and Puck grinned before he nodded. He slowly got up from behind the woman, washed his hands, and pat Sam on the shoulder before he walked out of the bathroom. Sam sighed before he found a rubber band on the bathroom counter and bent over to tie back the long black hair. He knocked on the wall, a signal between the roommates when they needed help with something, and Puck walked back towards him in his pyjamas. _Can you bring me a cup of water please?_ Puck nodded and headed off to the kitchen before Sam settled in behind Santana so that she could lean against him. When the mohawked man returned with a plastic cup of water, Sam thanked him before he went away. The blonde slightly shook the sleeping woman awake. She opened her watery eyes and looked at him as he handed her the cup of water. Slowly she drank it before she threw up in the toilet again. Sam gently rubbed her back as he watched her body tense and then she collapsed against his chest again. They sat there for about twenty minutes before Sam moved from his spot and picked her up in his arms and carried her to his room. He laid her down on his bed, took off her shoes, and then covered her up with his blanket. His back ached and cracked from the uncomfortable position in the bathroom. He grabbed a pair of sweats, his Big Bang Theory T-shirt, his black rimmed glasses, a pillow, and a spare blanket. Tiredly, he threw the bedding on to the couch and then changed his clothes and took out his contacts in the bathroom. He made his way to Puck's room, knocked, and waited for his friend to open the door.

Puck tiredly opened it and then turned around to sit on his bed. _Is she alive?_ He asked with a grin.

Sam grinned back and sat down on Puck's computer chair. _Yea, she's okay. Drunk. But okay._ Puck nodded and the two stared at each other for a few seconds. _What did she say when you asked her?_ He had told himself that he didn't want to know her answer, but he needed to know what she had said. Puck looked at his hands for a moment and then scratched the shaved side of his head. Sam's heart sunk for a moment and then he sighed.

_I'm sorry man. I think she was lying though._ Puck signed quickly. _I know these things._

Sam shrugged and dragged his hand through his hair. It was what he needed to know in order to move on with his life and push those developing feelings down and away. He hoped that Mercedes would eventually get back to him soon so they could talk things out, but he wasn't going to hold his breath. He forced a smile and signed thanks and goodnight before he got up and left the room. He made one last check on the woman sleeping in his bed and then made his way to his makeshift bed for the night. Placing his glasses on the table, he stared at them in thought for a few more moments before he finally fell asleep for the night.

A/N: WOOO boy I haven't done two POV chapters on the same event for a long time! Hopefully this chapter clears up some things for some people and possibly still created more questions as well! Thank you all so much for the support and love, it honestly still astounds me and makes me super nervous as well. Thanks to JG and AW for your help on this chapter. Please let me know what you think, either in a review or pm, or smoke signal just let me knows. Have a good one and until next time!


	6. Chapter 6

Santana leaned back against the comfortable couch and slowly pulled the beige rubber band out of her long, black, tresses, before she placed it around her tiny wrist. She snapped it against her sticky skin as she sat there listening to the man beside her. She stared at the mohawked man, who was sitting to the left of her, from the corner of her eye as he finished explaining what had happened to her the night before. The quick hand movement on her right caused her to turn her head and stare at the blonde who was signing something quickly to his friend. One of his legs was folded underneath him, while the other hung over the edge of the couch where the three young adults had been sitting for over half an hour. With a sigh, she rubbed her forehead and swallowed back the nausea that was overwhelming her, "So...I didn't sleep with anyone last night?" It was the first sentence she had uttered since they had sat down.

The man with the mohawk laughed and shook his head. "Don't know. You could have snuck out during the night for a booty call or something...but otherwise, nah, Sam slept out here on the couch and I was in my room doing stuff...things." He smirked at her and she narrowed her eyes as she tried to imagine what he could have been up to, but shook the thought from her mind and told herself that she didn't want to know.

She cleared her throat, "I know his name, but I don't have a damn clue who the hell you are." She folded her arms over her chest and cocked her head to the side as she held him with her gaze. He raised an eyebrow and sat up a bit straighter against the cushions of the couch.

"I go by many names, Puckster, Puckzilla, Mac daddy, god, Mohawked wonder, and my personal favourite...the panty snatcher. But some people call me Puck." Santana slowly blinked and then looked him over with disinterest.

"Uh ...huh...well, thanks for taking care of me last night. I don't remember any of it but it was cool of you guys to make sure I didn't get Latina-napped or something while I was drunk." She looked at the two men and gave them a small smile of gratitude. Puck nodded and signed something to Sam who nodded as well. His emerald green eyes held hers for a brief moment before he gave her a small smile, pushed himself off of the couch, and tiredly made his way into the bathroom. She stared at the closed door for a few moments before she looked over at Puck who was biting his thumb nail, "So, he can't hear anything at all?" He quickly dropped his hand to his lap and shook his head.

"Nope, Sam's always been deaf. He was born that way." She nodded and let her eyes roam back over to the bathroom door. It was hard to imagine being condemned to a life of silence and she was genuinely curious on how he managed to survive that way without ever knowing what his parents or friends sounded like. Puck stared at her expression and shook his head. "Don't pity him though, he loves being deaf, and he listens a lot better than a lot of folks who can actually hear. Which is ten kinds of fucked up if you ask me." Santana was about to ask what Puck meant when a loud knock sounded on the door. Puck looked at it in confusion before slowly standing up. He looked down at her for a moment and scrunched up his eyebrows. "You don't have no big ass brothers or boy cousins who would come looking for you or something right?" Santana grinned and shrugged. Puck frowned, "I'm serious, because I need to know if I should get my bat out and bash some balls." She rolled her eyes.

"No, I don't have family. So if there are some big dudes out there, they're not here for my ass." Puck looked at her for a second longer when another knock on the door sounded. He slowly walked over and peered through the peephole. Quickly, he turned to face her with frantic eyes and she watched the colour drain from his face. "What?" She asked loudly.

A loud and strong female voice penetrated the door, "Puckerman! I know you're in there, I can see a shadow under the door. Don't make me to take you to the carpet," Puck's eyes widened at the statement and he gave a small excited smirk, "And no, that's not a sexual reference you pervert. Open up!" Santana watched him nervously glance at her and make the sign of cross before he opened the door to reveal a tall heavy set woman that looked like she could snap Santana's neck with her index finger and her thumb. Her shoulder length brown hair cascaded over her strong shoulders and a beanie covered her scalp. She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose as her eyes searched Puck's while he leaned against the door obviously smitten by the woman in front of him.

"Hey baby," He said in a deep sultry voice that made Santana even more nauseated than she had been before. She fought the urge to roll her eyes at the couple by the door.

The woman pursed her red lips and narrowed her grayish blue eyes, "Shut up." She reached forward, grabbed him by the front of his shirt, pulled him against her, and kissed him hard. Puck's hands immediately rested on her waist as they kissed. She shoved him away from her and flipped her hair over her shoulder flirtatiously, "Jeese Puckerman, don't manhandle me."

"God, I'm going to be sick." Santana muttered out loud and wished that Sam would come out of the bathroom so that she could go throw up. Startled, the other woman narrowed her eyes and stared at Santana as if she were an unsightly smudge on her glasses.

She looked at Puck and crossed her arms over her ample chest. "Who's the twig?" Puck closed the door and hesitantly walked towards Santana.

"Lauren, Santana, Santana, Lauren." He pointed at the women as he said their names. "She's Sam's friend." Lauren sized up Santana and turned her attention back to Puck.

"Sam's friend? She looks more like some of the bimbos you used to mess with before getting lucky and meeting me." Santana's jaw dropped at the remark and she immediately stood up.

"Oh? I'm sorry, where was that? The zoo?" She looked pointedly at Puck, "I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to feed the elephants to avoid them from following you home. Guess you didn't listen." Lauren clenched her fists and stepped towards the smaller woman with a menacing grin. Puck quickly ran between them in fear that his girlfriend would kill his houseguest.

"Puckerman, move. I don't want to feel bad for hurting you while I pummel this Barbie into the ground." She pushed against his back and the man almost fell forward. "Move!"

He turned to look at her and placed his hands on her shoulders, she quickly glanced at him before narrowing her eyes at Santana. "Zizes, remember what the psychiatrist said?"

She rolled her eyes and nodded. "He said that I needed to get a hobby to help me work on my anger issues." Puck smiled at her and nodded.

"Exactly babe."

"Yea, well my new hobby's beating up Barbie's, it makes my anger go away in a snap." She lunged forward, but Puck caught her around her waist. Santana put her fists up in front of her face to protect her as she prepared to die at the hands of the woman in front of her.

"Control your water buffalo!" She yelled out in fear as she moved behind the couch. Lauren's eyes widened as she practically dragged her boyfriend who was still holding on to her. Puck paused for a moment, looked at Santana, then back at Lauren before he let her go.

"Water Buffalo?" He said slowly as he looked over at his girlfriend. "Fuck that, get her baby! Just don't get blood on my stuff." Lauren smiled and playfully smacked Puck's ass before she ran after Santana who in turn ran around the couch screaming for her life as the stronger woman chased her. The black haired woman stopped in front of the bathroom, banged on the door, and then threw it open to find Sam sitting on the edge of the tub with his phone in his hand. The sight of Santana running into the bathroom startled him. She grabbed him, pulled him to stand up, and then hid behind him. Lauren glared at her from the door, but didn't move any closer to Sam.

_What's happening?_ Sam signed quickly to his best friend, who was standing behind his girlfriend.

_She called my baby an Elephant. So I thought it was fair to let her bite her or something. _Puck shrugged and raised an eyebrow at the annoyed expression that Sam was giving him. _What?_ Sam silently sighed and shook his head. He turned so that he could see Santana and his best friend clearly.

_Tell her that she can't hurt her or BITE her. _The blonde signed with emphasis. He didn't agree with what Santana had said and he wasn't a hundred percent sure that she had actually said it, but he couldn't let Lauren kill her, especially in his apartment. Puck folded his arms over his chest in defiance and stared back at Sam. _Please? _

Puck glanced over at Santana, who was still slightly hidden behind Sam, and then looked over at his girlfriend who was cracking her knuckles as she lost patience. _You're going to get me killed._ Puck signed quickly. _You better wear a dress to my funeral. _He put his hand by his face and signed _Pink._ Sam quietly laughed and shook his head.

The blonde grinned and leaned against the cool sink. _Sorry bro, green's more my colour._ Puck rolled his eyes and pulled Lauren out of the bathroom so that he could talk to her in private, preferably away from the kitchen where there were knives. The look that she exchanged with Santana before she left alerted both men that their fight was far from over. After they walked out, Sam looked over at Santana and noticed that she was saying something quickly under her breath. She put her hand to her forehead and let out a long breath, but never took her eyes off of the door. Sam gave his phone one last lingering look before he shoved it into his pocket and walked out of the bathroom. He had enough on his mind already without trying to repeatedly rescue Mercedes' crazy roommate from fights. It was time for her to go home. His brows furrowed as he noticed Lauren and Puck arguing with each other in the living room. He slightly regretted not letting his best friend's girlfriend, who he was actually quite fond of, bite the other hot headed woman. Tired of the fiasco, he slipped into his bedroom and grabbed a pair of track pants, as well as one of his hoodies.

He jumped when he noticed that Santana had followed him into his bedroom. Her arms were wrapped around her upper body as she leaned her back against his closed bedroom door. She quickly glanced at him from under her eyelashes as they stood there awkwardly glancing at each other in silence. Sam gave her a small smile and handed her the clothes he had just taken out, she looked at the articles of clothing in confusion, and then looked up at him. It was broad daylight and he didn't think that she would want to make her way back home in a tight black dress, so he figured that she could borrow some of his clothes, and then he could come by and retrieve them. He hoped that Mercedes would be there when he did. He motioned to her body and she gave him a sarcastic look as if to say duh. Sam couldn't help the snort of laughter that had escaped through his nose at her attitude. In his past experiences with strangers they always treated him like he was fragile because he was deaf. However, Santana didn't seem to give a damn about that at all and it was oddly refreshing to him.

He pulled out his phone and composed a text so that she could understand him. He held it out to her and she took it and read it with a slight roll of her eyes. She threw it back to him before she pulled the pants up her legs and over the bottom of her dress. Sam checked his text messages again to make sure that he hadn't missed any from Mercedes, he was worried that she hadn't gotten home the night before. When he looked up from his phone, he could see Santana struggling to put her heels back on and it made him grin to see her sporting her black pumps paired with his baggy clothes. His long fingers ran through his hair as he made his way to the bedroom door and opened it for her. Santana stared at it hesitantly, but then straightened her shoulders, grabbed her purse, and walked out with confidence. Sam followed behind her and looked around the empty apartment in confusion, he sincerely hoped that Lauren didn't do something to Puck. He walked towards Puck's bedroom, but was caught off guard when Santana grabbed his arm to stop him from walking any further. The look of pure horror on her face as she stared at Puck's door showed him that Lauren and Puck were more than likely in the process of making up after their fight. He smirked at her expression and thanked God that he was deaf and unable to hear the animalistic sounds that were more than likely penetrating the small apartment. They walked out of the apartment together and ended up on the sidewalk. Sam had noticed Santana on the phone when they were on the elevator and assumed that she was calling for someone to pick her up, which was why he wasn't surprised when a taxi pulled up to the curb. She gave Sam a lingering look before thrusting her hand out for him to shake. He grinned and warmly shook her hand before letting her get into the taxi. She took off down the road without another look at him and Sam stood there thinking for a moment before heading back into his apartment.

* * *

Mercedes stood quietly at the kitchen sink, pruned hands covered with soap and bubbles, as her mind wandered. She hadn't slept well the night before because her mind continuously raced over what Sam and Santana were probably doing at the club after she had left. In the back of her mind she knew it had been a childish thing to run away, but she couldn't stand the toxicity of the situation around her and she didn't feel the need to just stand there and endure it. She had cried her heart out to Mike on the phone until her eyes burned, but nothing that he said to her could calm her down, so she promised to speak to him the next day. After taking a long shower and wrapping up her hair, she grabbed her ear plugs, turned off her phone, and curled up into a ball on her bed. She was scared that Sam and Santana would come back to the apartment and the last she wanted to hear was them having a good time in bed. Her vulnerability angered her sometimes and she honestly wished that she could avoid caring about anyone or anything. When she woke up, she went into CSI mode and looked around for any traces of evidence that they had come back to the apartment, but she found nothing. She was tempted to peer into her roommate's room but was scared of what she may have seen.

The sound of the telephone ringing startled her and she ran to the living room to answer the phone. "Hello?" she asked curiously. The phone was connected to the downstairs buzzer, but nobody had ever dialed theirs before.

"Uh, can you open the door? I left my key here last night." Mercedes narrowed her eyes at the familiar voice and was tempted to hang up the phone and let the girl relax on the curb for a few hours. However, she believed in karma, so she didn't utter another word and just buzzed her roommate into the building. She unlocked the door, walked back into the kitchen, and rewashed the plate that she had been holding under the water while her mind had wandered. The sound of the door opening made her stomach turn and she made sure not to look over her shoulder as she heard Santana enter the kitchen. The rustling of a plastic bag could be heard in the silence as Santana placed something down on the kitchen counter. Mercedes waited until she heard her roommate leave the kitchen and go into her bedroom before she turned around and peered through the plastic bag which contained two new jars of peanut butter and five bananas. Her eyebrows rose up and she felt oddly compelled to walk towards her roommate's bedroom door that was semi-open. She quickly knocked and took a hesitant step forwards when Santana told her to come in. Mercedes' eyes opened widely at her roommate and then her gaze dropped to the ground as she quickly realised that the clothes Santana was wearing belonged to Sam. She took a deep breath and forced herself to look up.

"So..." She said quietly. Santana, who was sitting on her bed, held a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes.

"So...what?" She asked with a tinge of annoyance in her voice. Mercedes could definitely tell that the other woman had a bad headache or hangover from the night before, which in her opinion, served her right. Mercedes cleared her throat and leaned against the doorframe as one of Santana's eyes opened and stared at her.

"You bought peanut butter and bananas." Santana closed her eye again and nodded. "Is that for us or just you?"

"Everything's yours." She answered quickly which was immediately followed by silence. "Was that all you wanted to know?" Mercedes was about to answer yes, but quickly bit her tongue.

"Where did you go last night?" She knew that the question was slightly intrusive, but she just needed to know. Santana sighed and laid down on the bed, it was a few moments before she decided to speak.

"Oh, I was by Trouty face and the dude with the mohawk. I couldn't get back in here, so they let me crash over there with them and then I had a run in with an elephant." Santana rubbed her eyes and then threw her arm over them. Mercedes tried to make sense of the information that she had been given, especially about the part with the elephant. "I have to get these clothes back to him after I wash them, is he going to be coming by soon or something?"

"I thought you would know...since you guys were _together_ last night." Santana moved her arm from her face and squinted at Mercedes.

"What?"

"Nothing." She walked out of the bedroom and grabbed a Tylenol from her room and a glass of water from the kitchen. Without knocking, she re-entered Santana's bedroom and smacked the girl's knee. Santana groaned, but sat up when she saw what Mercedes held in her hand.

"Thanks." She popped the pill into her mouth and swallowed it down with an audible gulp. Mercedes was about to turn around when Santana grabbed her hand and pulled her down on the bed beside her. "Look..." She paused and glanced at Mercedes, "I don't know what you think went down between me and your friend, but nothing happened. Nobody gets to touch my cookies, without me screening who I think is worthy to even see the cookie jar. So...if that's what you were thinking...don't." Mercedes slowly nodded and shrugged.

"Wouldn't have mattered anyways. We're not together or anything like that. He's just my friend." She stammered on unconvincingly as Santana rolled her eyes.

"Uh huh, sure. But I think he's into you, so I'd tap him before he finds some Helen Keller chick to mess around with or something. Plus he can't hear how annoying you are, which is definitely a bonus." She looked at Mercedes and grinned. Mercedes blushed and gently nudged the other woman.

"Well gee Santana, what a nice way of putting that." She laughed and shook her head as she stood up. "But...thanks, I guess." Santana nodded and then cringed as her nausea crept back up.

"Don't mention it. Now, I need to sleep this thing off, so I'll see you later." Mercedes gave her a quick smile and closed Santana's door behind her as she leaned against it in confusion. Santana thought that Sam was into her? She had met him only once, so how would she know? Her hand crept to the back of her neck as she tried to rub away the tension that she was holding there. She slipped into her bedroom and finally turned her phone back on to see message after message pour in from Mike, Sam, her dad, and her sister. She texted her family to let them know that she was okay and held off from returning Sam's text until she had a chance to speak to Mike first. Her fingers punched in the familiar number as she clutched a cool pillow against her chest and waited for him to answer.

"Cedes, jeese woman. You freaked the shit out of me. Why was your phone off?" She grinned at his concern and pushed herself back against the headboard.

"Sorry, I turned it off last night and just turned it back on. I didn't mean to freak you out, just needed to be alone." She closed her eyes and listened to his voice.

"I'm training to be a cop okay, I don't think logically like, 'oh she must have turned off her phone or something' I think 'oh god she's dead, call criminal minds we need a profiler or some crap'. You honestly scared me."

She laughed warmly against the phone, "You sound just like uncle Chang and i—"

"WOW, take that back or I'm not coming to visit you."

"Mike bu—"

"I'm serious, that's the creepiest thing you could have said. Everyone knows I'm way cooler than my dad alright?"

Mercedes smiled. "Fine if I take it back, you have to visit me twice AND bring me some of my sister's home cooked meals."

"Deal, I'll bring it, but I don't know if it will last with me in the car. Just sayin. Anyways, enough about me...now, who do I have to mysteriously make disappear?" Mercedes sighed and rubbed her hand up and down her thigh.

"No one...I just...I just overreacted last night. I shouldn't have called you, but I just needed to vent." Mike was silent on the other end for a moment, "I'm sorry, I just really like this guy...I mean he doesn't say much, but when he does say something...or I don't know Mike...I just like him."

"You haven't been there that long, you need to relax and take it slow. I remember helping you pick up the pieces of your heart back when you were in high school and I know some pieces got lost along the way, so you need to be careful with it."

"I know and I keep telling myself that...but I slipped up and I have a crush on this guy and I can't even talk to him properly yet."

Mike sighed, "Well just sit down and have a full blown out conversation with him and see if he is a nudist or a cannibal, or something like that. Then hang out ten or twenty times and figure out if you honestly like him. Trust me, you don't want to repeat what happened between you and that guy bin, with this new guy."

"His name was Finn, Mike."

"Nah, his name was bin because he was pure trash okay. He's lucky his whereabouts are unknown because I would secretly plant ecstasy in his closet if I could."

She fought down the bad memories of what had happened between her and her old best friend years ago. "We...we were young and we made mistakes...shit happens. We just moved really quickly after he had broken things off with his ex and...whatever, I don't want to talk about this Mike. I feel shitty enough."

"Fine, but let it remind you that slow and steady wins the whole race and fast could give you a heart attack and kill you dead."

"Such wise words from a jackass." She laughed and Mike chuckled into the phone.

"Well I made you laugh so I got the reaction I wanted from you."

"Thanks Mike."

"I love you alright? Don't make me come down there and pummel some dudes for you. Just take it easy and with time, you'll figure this guy out and you'll figure out what you really want too. Ok?" She took a deep breath and thought it over. "Cedes?"

"Okay...okay. I'll take it slow."

"Good, I gotta go. Dance class is in an hour and I have my eyes on this hot blonde, catch you later. Peace." She shook her head and sifted through the text messages in her phone. Sam had sent her four messages asking if she was okay. After a few deep breaths, she wrote a lengthy reply explaining that she hadn't been feeling very well the night before and apologized for running out on him, she sent it in hopes that he would believe her. Her phone buzzed a few minutes later with his reply, he told her that he had wished she would have said something so that he could have taken her home. She gave a small smile and stared at the box that was peeking out from her closet.

**Hey Sam do you want to...**

* * *

Mercedes sat in the living room and made sure that everything was set up the way it was supposed to be. The house phone laid on the floor by her side, so that she wouldn't miss the call from downstairs while she organized the money on the board. She jumped at the sound of the loud knock on the door and quickly jumped up to get it. Without even peering through the peephole she swung the door open and smiled shyly up at Sam who was wearing a gray zip up sweatshirt and dark blue jeans.

"Hi," She said excitedly as his green eyes sparkled at her. He lifted his arm as if he were about to wave, but then gently wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for a hug. Her eyes closed as she leaned against his chest and he held her there for a few moments before stepping back and letting her go. His face was flushed as he reached out for her hand and traced the word 'hi' into her palm. He dropped it slowly, before stuffing his hands into the pockets of his sweatshirt and fully stepped into her apartment. She moved towards the living room and heard him chuck off his shoes before he sat cross legged across from her at the coffee table. Mercedes knelt so that she could see the Monopoly board game a lot better and Sam leaned forward so that he could finger the silver pieces in the box. He moved his hand to grab one of the houses on the table when his hand accidentally grazed her left breast. Sam jerked it back as if it were on fire and continuously signed the word for sorry. Mercedes blushed but laughed and shook her head at him.

_It's okay._ He looked at her and smiled while she fought the urge to feel his lips against her own. She licked her own and did her best to concentrate on the board game in front of her, but continued to steal glances at Sam as he read over the instructions. Sometimes she would look up at him and see that he was looking back at her, they would stay like that for a few seconds before one of them eventually looked away. Taking it slow with Sam was definitely going to be a challenge for her, but as she knelt there and watched him get excited over claiming the metal hat piece, she knew that it would be worth it.

After the game ended two hours later, she stood up and stretched out her body, cringing at the sound of the cracks that her bones emitted. She closed her eyes and rolled her shoulder around to loosen it up, but stopped when she felt Sam's smooth hand on hers. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment before he placed his hand on the shoulder she had been rolling and slowly began to knead the tight muscles that were there. Her eyes rolled back as she enjoyed the strong hand that was handling her. Sam immediately stopped, sat down on the couch with his back against the arm, lifted his left leg up on the couch against the cushions, and left the right one on the ground. He pat the space in between his open legs and Mercedes slowly sat down. His hands immediately found the sore muscles of her shoulders and back, kneading and smoothing the palms of his hands against the material of her shirt. A deep moan escaped her lips as his long fingers moved up her neck and rubbed circles on the pressure points. She could feel her body push back against him as the rest of her begged to be touched by the skilled hands. Her left hand gripped his knee for support as he played her body like a familiar instrument. His fingers gently massaged down her arms until he reached the back of her hands, which he rubbed his palms over before rolling her fingers in small circular motions. She looked over her shoulder to see his expression and was surprised to see that his eyes were closed as he touched her and she wondered what he was thinking about. As if noticing that she was looking at him, his green eyes slowly opened, and searched her face for something before he removed his hands from her body. They stared at each other for a moment before Mercedes moved to the other side of the couch and nervously scratched her cheek. Sam reached out and took her hand in his own.

'Feel better?' He wrote lazily across her palm. She gulped and nodded as she tried to ignore the electricity from his touch that was coursing through her body. He grinned, 'Good, but I need to get going.'

_Thank you._ She signed once she regained control of her body. Sam stood up and smiled before signing back.

_You're welcome._ He reached out and helped her up from the couch before they made their way over to the door. She waited for him to slip his shoes back on and then stood on her tip toes to place a light kiss on his cool cheek. His eyes widened for a brief moment before he licked his lips and smiled. Mercedes scolded herself for the move and reached around him to open the door and forced herself to remember to take it slow. Sam stepped into the hallway and gave her a quick wave before he headed towards the stairs. She watched him disappear down the hall before she closed the door and leaned against it. She sighed heavily as reality dawned on her: if she wasn't careful, Sam Evans was ultimately going to be the death of her.

A/N: Hey readers! Not sure if anyone's left lol but hello to those of you who still want to stick around. Sorry this took awhile and I apologise if it's crappy, but I'm trying to get back into my groove with this story so please bear with me. I still love seeing reviews, so if you have a few moments I'd love to see your thoughts on the chapter, or shoot me a pm if you'd like! Thanks to my bestie JG and to you amazing readers who continue to support me on my journey! Have a lovely summer and I hope to update soon.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey folks, so here's an update for anyone who was looking out for it, it's long so hopefully that makes up for my absence ( If not I have candy!). This chapter covers a span of a month to get the story moving along and I have also made it so that Mercedes is much more advanced with her signing so that she and Sam could communicate more effectively, although it isn't very realistic, which I apologise for. I hope you enjoy, thanks to my best friend of life JG for helping me plan it and please leave reviews and some love if you have a minute. Thank you amazing readers for your support, it keeps me going!**

**Week 1**

Her head faced the foot of her bed while her sore elbows propped up her upper body weight as she stared down at the open textbook laying flat on her mattress. Mercedes was looking at the page, but continuously found herself re-reading the same sentence over and over again as she tried to concentrate for her midterm the next day. It was an extremely difficult feat to overcome when a clean, fresh, shampoo smell continuously drifted into her nose from the blonde hair beneath her head. She peered over the edge of the bed at Sam's head that slightly tilted to the side as he fingered the pages of his own textbook. It was midnight and the friends had been studying for the same class since seven that evening. His back was supported by the end of the bed and a pillow that she had reserved for friends who may have needed it if they slept over. A sigh escaped from his lips as he turned the page, seemingly very focused on the material. However, he tilted his head back and looked up at her. She smiled in embarrassment and pushed her body up so that she could sit cross legged on the mattress. Sam stood up and sat on the end of her bed. Mercedes watched him curiously, wondering what he was going to do. They had been slightly distant from each other since the monopoly game the week before and she had taken it as a sign that their relationship wasn't ready to move to that level as yet.

He let out a slightly audible yawn. _This is really boring and I'm falling asleep._ He signed slowly and then stretched out his limbs. _I'm reading it, but it's like my mind is a funnel and the information goes in, but then immediately comes out._

Mercedes nodded and rubbed her elbows which had gone slightly numb from the weight of her body. _I know what you mean. I'm tired too._ She signed back and then rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. A knock sounded on the door. "Come in." Santana slowly opened it and peered inside.

"Oh good, I wasn't sure if you guys were naked or something." Mercedes rolled her eyes and smirked.

"What kind of roommate would I be if I didn't invite you to join us then?"

"A damn shitty one!" Santana smiled and stepped into the room with Sam's clothes neatly folded in her arms. He looked at her with a smile as she handed it to him.

_Thanks._ Santana nodded and returned the gesture. She had been picking up on some of the simple signs by interacting with Sam, but Mercedes was much more advanced than her.

"What are you two dorks working on?" She peered over Mercedes' shoulder and saw the textbook.

"We have a midterm...for the most boring subject in the world. Do you want to join us in all this fun?!" Mercedes asked sarcastically.

Santana made a disgusted expression and shook her head, "Uh uh, I'll leave you two to that. Ciao." She turned on her heels and left the room. Mercedes smiled and looked over at Sam who had picked up pieces of the conversation between the roommates. He grinned and closed his textbook.

_Let's go to bed? _Mercedes signed and then noticed Sam's raised eyebrow. _I mean...I'll go to sleep in my bed and you'll sleep on the floor. I didn't mean sleep together. Like sex...I didn't mean sex. _She cleared her throat awkwardly as Sam snorted and nodded. He slid off of the bed and grabbed the blankets she had pulled out for him to sleep with. He laid one down on the floor, threw the pillow on it, and then placed the blanket he was going to cover with on top. She rolled off of her bed and pulled her night clothes out of her drawer. When she turned around, Sam's bare back was facing her as he changed into a different T-shirt to sleep with. She couldn't help but notice the muscles in his back as he pulled the shirt on with ease. Noticing that someone was looking at him, he looked over his shoulder at her and she lowered her eyes to her night clothes. She scratched her temple and moved past him to the bathroom so that she could change her clothes in private.

Grabbing her toothbrush, she brushed her teeth and stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes closed as thoughts of Sam entered her mind. She needed to do the best that she could to avoid making things between them awkward...or more awkward than they already were. It was just extremely difficult to stop her eyes from roaming over his body when he stretched upwards and she could see the inch of skin of his flat stomach. "Gah," She mumbled and shook her head. It was dangerous having such thoughts especially if he was going to be sleeping in her room that night. She rinsed out her mouth and washed her face before she headed back to her bedroom. When she opened the door she found Sam lying on the ground with his right leg bent at the knee and his hands supported the back of his head as he stared up at her ceiling. She quietly closed her door and slid into bed. Sam turned his head and looked at her.

_Do you think you're ready for the exam tomorrow? _He asked as his green eyes bore into hers.

Mercedes shrugged. _No, but whatever. I'll just do the best that I can._ Sam nodded and closed his eyes for a brief moment. He opened them and slightly bit his bottom lip.

_You're going to do really well...Puck on the other hand might have to retake it. _Sam laughed, _I don't think he's even going to study. _Mercedes rolled her eyes.

_I'm not even surprised. _Sam smiled and rolled on to his left side to face her. She grinned back and put her pillow at the foot of her bed so that she would be closer to her guest. _Night Sam._ She signed sleepily.

_Night Mercy._ He closed his eyes. She moved to the wall and flicked off the light switch before she got back into bed. Her eyes wandered over his face, which was lit by the moonlight, one last time before she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Sam opened his eyes and studied her sleeping expression. A part of him wondered if she knew that her nose twitched while she slept. He sighed to himself as he questioned if he would ever meet a deaf girl who could make him feel like Mercedes did. He knew that she was extremely friendly with everyone, so he didn't really take anything that she did to heart. She was a good friend and he was sure that's all she would ever want to be with him. He knit his brows and closed his eyes as he fell into a deep troubled sleep.

**Week 2**

Mercedes rubbed her cold hands together as she waited in line at the Starbucks in the school library. Had she realised how cold it would be outside she would have dug up her gloves from her sock drawer. She had just stuck her hands into her jean pockets when she felt someone push their hand through the space that had been made between her side and arm. Startled, she looked up to see Puck smirking down at her.

"Hey you!" She said delighted, she hadn't seen him since their midterm the week before. Fortunately everyone had passed with marks higher than seventy percent. Puck wrapped her in his arms and gave her a warm hug. She could feel the coolness of his leather jacket against her cheek.

"How you doing sugar mama? Haven't seen you around for a bit." He responded warmly. Mercedes noticed the line had moved up and walked forward with Puck in tow. She was afraid to turn around and face the annoyed looks from the people Puck had butted in line.

"Yea, I know. I've just been trying to get my papers done. I'm also looking for a job." She sighed as she realised how boring her life had become.

"Mmm, I see what you're saying, but you still need to make some time for you, or you're going to die old and boring. And trust me babe, boring is not hot." Puck said enthusiastically as they took a step forward.

Mercedes laughed. "Yea, but I'm not trying to be hot, I'm trying to get my crap together. I don't have time to waste and I have a lot to do. I can be hot when I'm dead." Puck shook his head as they neared the counter.

"Well mama, you're already dead if you choose not to live. But that's just my opinion."

Mercedes shrugged and turned to face the cashier. "Hi, can I have a hot chocolate with whip cream please...oh and made with chocolate milk please."

"Yea, can I get a black coffee. Thanks." The barista took the orders and Puck paid for the drinks.

"Puck!" Mercedes swatted his arm as they stood to the side. "I could have bought my own drink."

Puck laughed and pinched her cheeks. "Just say thanks you handsome sex god." Mercedes rolled her eyes.

"Thanks fool." Puck laughed and handed her the drink when they were done. She smiled up at him as they walked out of the library together. He was a good friend to her and she was genuinely happy that they had met. They drank their hot beverages in silence as they made their way to the one class they shared.

She slipped into a seat at the end of the table and Puck sat down beside her. "Oh, I have something to give to you." He fished around in his pockets.

"It better not be another joint or I'm going to bite your ankle." Puck laughed at the memory of him offering her one before the week of midterms.

"Hey, I thought you needed to loosen up a bit, I was just trying to be friendly. But no...I've learned my lesson trust me." He handed her a crumpled piece of paper. Mercedes looked at the address on it and then raised an eyebrow at him.

"What is this?" Puck took a sip of his coffee and coughed.

"It's an address to my girl's place. She's having a birthday party on Friday and I think you should start living life and come and party with us." He winked at her and took another sip. Mercedes looked at the paper and stuffed it into her jeans pocket. "She said she's cool with you dropping by."

"Okay thanks." She smiled, "who else is going that I might know?"

"Sam and Tina." Mercedes wasn't too fond of the idea of seeing Tina, but at least she would get to see Sam for a bit.

"Okay...sounds good, I'll try to pop in." She finished off her drink and put the empty cup aside. "Can I bring a friend too?" Puck nodded.

"Sure, as long as they're not some psycho killer or something."

"Shucks, how will I explain this to Ghostface now?!" She feigned disappointment and Puck laughed sarcastically.

"I guess, he's just going to have to go and make some other folks _scream_." The pair laughed and Mercedes pulled out her notebook and pen.

"Where's your stuff?" She asked as she looked at Puck. He tapped the side of his head and she rolled her eyes as she opened her book. Their professor walked into the class and spoke with a loud booming voice. Mercedes let her thoughts wander to what she was going to wear to the party on Friday night.

* * *

"Good god Aretha, your ass is just...umph." Santana stared at Mercedes' butt as the shorter woman bent over to put her shoes on. Mercedes laughed and wiggled her butt from side to side. "I just want to lightly smack it. It's so beautiful."

Mercedes finished putting her heels on and rolled her eyes. "Shutup, but thanks." Santana winked and finished putting on her red lipstick. "I hope this dress isn't too much." Santana smacked her lips together and shook her head.

"Roomie, you look sexy and I'm going to have to be on jerk patrol and yank off any guy's penis that even thinks of jumping at the sight of you." Mercedes pulled a disgusted face and shook her head at the image.

"Uh...thanks San...always good to know you have my back." The women laughed and exited the apartment together. Mercedes hadn't wanted to go alone and she had noticed that Santana rarely went out with anyone, so she had invited her to come with her to the party. She had already asked Puck if she could bring a friend with her so she didn't think it would be a problem, plus Santana had already met Puck too so they would be familiar.

They reached the party by taxi and decided that they would take the subway back considering how expensive the ride had been. The house on the outside looked cozy and small, but judging by the amount of cars in the front, there were a lot of people inside. Loud music could be heard from the corner of the street and it only droned on louder as they walked inside. People who Mercedes had never seen before were milling around and looking at them as they entered.

"What does your friend look like?" Santana spoke closely to Mercedes' ear. The shorter woman looked around for someone she could recognize.

"Well you know Puck right?" She asked Santana and the other woman nodded. "Yea, it's his girlfriend's party so I'm not sure what she looks like." Mercedes continued to speak and only stopped when she noticed how pale Santana's face had gone.

"Oh god." Santana looked around, panic evident in her eyes. Mercedes paused and stared at her roommate.

"Are you okay? You look really sick." A firm hand on her shoulder caused her to turn around and face Sam and Tina. "Sam!" She said excitedly as he pulled her into a tight embrace. She smiled against his neck and looked up to see Tina's frown of disapproval. Mercedes cleared her throat and took a step back. She looked over at Santana and touched her shoulder. "Do you want to sit down or drink some water?" The long haired woman shook her head no.

_I'm surprised Santana is here. _Sam signed with a laugh, _She and Lauren had some huge problems the last time they saw each other._ Mercedes furrowed her eyebrows.

_What problems?_ Sam immediately stopped laughing and looked over at Santana.

_Apparently, she called her an elephant or something like that. I don't really know, I only know what Puck told me happened._ Mercedes' eyes widened.

_Shit._

She turned to Santana who looked a bit better. "Sam just told me what happened, do you want to go?" Santana rolled her eyes.

"I'm not dying, we're already here so let's just booze up. It's cool. I fought the giant before, so no big." Santana laughed. "Ha, big...anywho, where's the booze at!?" She turned on her heel and headed to the kitchen. Mercedes shook her head and turned to Sam and Tina.

_Hey Tina, how are you?_ Mercedes asked politely.

"I'm fine." The woman answered curtly before she turned to Sam. _I'm going to go find Lauren. _Mercedes stared after the other woman and sighed. Sam held a beer in his hand and offered her some. She gladly took it and sipped. The cold liquor felt good going down and made her crave her own. They drifted off into the kitchen and squeezed between the people to grab a beer from the fridge. Santana stood in a corner talking very animatedly with a guy Mercedes had never met before. A taller woman came up behind Sam and hugged him tightly. Her glasses slid along the bridge of her nose.

"BAM BAM!" She yelled fondly and rather drunkenly out loud. Sam turned around in the embrace and hugged her back.

_Happy birthday! _He signed enthusiastically. Mercedes watched the interaction and slowly drank her beer. The taller woman noticed Mercedes and raised an eyebrow.

"Do I know you?" She asked with a slight slur of her speech. Mercedes smiled and extended her hand.

"No, but I'm friends with Sam and Puck invited me here. I'm Mercedes."

"Oh! Mercedes! Hi!" The woman pulled Mercedes into a bone crushing hug. "I'm Lauren, but everyone calls me Zizes, so you can call me that too." She smiled and pulled the beer bottle out of Mercedes hands and set it down. "Don' drink that crap!" She pushed past people and pulled out a bottle of rum and coke from the fridge. Lauren poured Mercedes a glass of rum with a splash of coke. She shoved the glass into Mercedes hand and stared at her. "Drink up Cedes!" Mercedes glanced at Sam who was chuckling. He raised his glass at her and laughed again as she sipped the concoction.

Her eyes squeezed shut as the liquid slid down her throat. There was way too much rum in it for her taste. "It tastes like rubbing alcohol." She coughed out and Lauren laughed.

"Mhm, I know it does. Come let me show you around my house!" She grabbed the rest of the rum and disappeared into the rest of the house to introduce her to her friends and show her the rooms. Mercedes noticed how Lauren continuously filled up her glass for her. By the time she found Sam again, she knew she was pretty drunk as she kept laughing at everything Lauren said. She had found him sitting on the couch with Puck talking about something and for some odd reason Mercedes thought it would be a good idea to sit on Sam's lap. He stared at her in surprise and looked over at Puck, but his best friend was busy making out with Lauren who had grabbed him. Mercedes dragged her finger along the side of Sam's face and stared into his eyes. His breath hitched as she moved closer to him and his eyes began to water from the strong smell of rum. He turned his face away from her and coughed. Mercedes noticed the gesture and rolled her eyes before she pushed herself off of his lap and walked towards another guy who was leaning against the wall.

"Hey...you're kind of cute." She giggled as she sipped on the rum still in her glass. The guy raised his eyebrows.

"Kind of cute huh? I thought I could do better than that, but thanks." He laughed and sipped on his beer. She giggled and pulled down her dress, which had risen up. The man leaned in close to her ear, "I'm Matt." He smiled.

"I'm you're lucky day!" She mumbled excitedly and the man shook his head.

"You're lucky day eh? Never heard that name before. I like it." He took another sip of his beer and let his eyes wander over her curves. Mercedes was about to say something clever when Santana pulled her away from the man.

"She's too good for you! Sorry!" She yelled back as she pulled her roommate into a room. A guy and a girl were heavily making out on the bed. "Yo! Scram."

"The fuck?!" The guy yelled as he scrambled to zip up his pants.

"The house is on fire, I'm trying to save your life." The man pulled the girl out of the room and Santana locked it the minute they left. She folded her arms over her chest and Mercedes started to laugh.

"The house is on fire! That was a good one satan!" Santana shook her head and pushed Mercedes down on to the mattress. "What are you doing?" Mercedes asked slightly disoriented.

"I'm stopping you from making a damn fool of yourself out there with some dude you don't know. OR with some dude you _do_ know." Mercedes sat up and shrugged.

"I wouldn't go home with him or anything, I just really like being social with people." She smiled and held Santana's hand. "See! Social, social, social." She began laughing again as she swung their intertwined hands. Santana shook her head and laughed. A loud knock came at the door.

"We're having sex!" Santana yelled out and Mercedes had to cover her mouth to stop her laugh from sounding out. The knock sounded again. Annoyed, Santana stood up and opened it to find Lauren staring at her with Sam and Puck behind her.

"WHO THE HELL LET YOU IN HERE!?" Santana refused to show any fear and placed her hands on her hips.

"I came with my roommate."

"Yea, I invited her! But that was before I found out she called you an elephant...sorry about that." Mercedes giggled to herself and played with her dress. Lauren stared at Mercedes and then looked back at Santana before she began to laugh.

"Damn man, you're bold!...I like that."She nodded her head in approval. "Shots, shots, shots, shots...EVERYBODY!" She yelled out as she pulled Puck out into the hall. Sam leaned against the doorframe.

Santana placed her hand on her chest. "I need something strong to drink. I swear my life just flashed before my eyes." She pat Sam on the shoulder and brushed past him. He smiled and entered the room. Mercedes moved over on the bed so that he could sit down.

_Having fun?_ Mercedes nodded and smiled.

_Yea, I want more to drink._ Sam handed her his beer which she chugged down immediately. _Thanks._ She burped and laughed. Sam raised an eyebrow and looked at his now empty bottle. "Sorry Sam jam" She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him close to her. The smell of his aftershave tickled her nose and she couldn't help but rub the tip of her nose against his warm skin. He turned his face to look at her and smiled.

_It tickles._

Mercedes lazily smiled back and then slowly turned her head towards the door to find Tina peering in. "TINA! Come in here girl." She slowly walked inside and sat on the other side of Sam. Mercedes leaned over the blonde and grabbed Tina's hands. "Are you having a sick time?! Did you drink?" Tina pulled back from the overwhelming smell. Her face twisted in disgust.

"No. I didn't. I like to enjoy myself without being under the influence." She said snidely. Mercedes laughed.

"Sucks for you then." She pat the other girls hand and sauntered out of the room. Tina looked over at Sam who was staring after Mercedes.

_She really shouldn't drink. _Tina signed.

Sam nodded and laughed. _Yea, I know. But as long as she's okay, it's okay._ He nudged his best friend with his shoulder. _Go have fun._ Tina smirked and grabbed Sam's hand.

_Let's do it together._ Sam laughed and squeezed her hand as she pulled him back out into the party for the night.

**Week 3**

"Listen, I know how to make some good homemade authentic Spanish food which would make you fall in love with me in ten seconds flat." Santana boasted as she pulled vegetables out of her kitchen fridge. Puck raised an eyebrow and leaned against the wall.

"Trust me, there's no food in the world that could accomplish that. Now seeing my sexy Marky Mark dance might make your loins catch on fire if you catch my drift." Santana resisted the urge to throw up. "Hey don't make that face, the ladies love my moves."

"Were they blind ladies?" Santana asked with a grin. "Because that would make a lot of sense." Puck rolled his eyes as he helped her cut up bell peppers.

"Laugh all you want, but I've had people beg me to become an exotic dancer for big bucks and I'd do it, but my girl would probably murder me in my sleep if I tried. She likes to keep Puckzilla under wraps and all to herself."

"She's probably keeping you under wraps cause you're ugly, so don't feel too flattered now. I' hide you too." Santana cut up an onion and began to fry the pieces.

"Hide me in your drawers probably." Puck winked and laughed as he put the chopped up peppers into a bowl.

"Puck you are so talented. You're the only one in the entire world who can actually make me throw up in my mouth as much as you do." Puck smiled widely.

"What can I say, I got a gift I guess." He looked over at the onions that were beginning to burn in the frying pan. "Yo you might want to keep an eye on those." Santana texted someone on her phone and waved him off.

"It'll give them more flavour. Don't worry." Puck didn't cook all the time, but he knew that burned onions tasted disgusting. He reached into the pan with a fork to move them around. Santana smacked his hand away. "No los toque idiota! You just help cut the veggies and watch the magic of my food! You're not allowed to cook." Puck rolled his eyes and walked over to the sink to wash his hands. He peered into the living room and watched Mercedes and Sam sign excitedly to each other. He didn't know what they were saying, but he assumed it was a joke of some sort from all of the laughter.

He turned his attention back to Santana, who had finally rescued the charred remains of the onions and placed them on a plate with a paper towel over it for the oil to soak in. He made a face at the blackened strips and shook his head. "You can't make me eat that stuff, just thinking about it is giving me gas."

"Look, I don't need to know what the hell is coming out of your basement." She looked at his ass and grimaced. "You must be crazy." She put the peppers in the pan and turned up the heat. Puck reached over her and turned it down. "Ay, what did I..."She put the heat back up, "...Just tell you, don't touch it! Don't even look at it. Go over there." She pointed to the far corner of the kitchen.

"You're cooking, not barbequing stuff, so why is it all black?" He pointed to the burned onions and the salsa chicken drumsticks that were burned on the bottom which she had 'cooked' earlier.

Santana narrowed her eyes, "What? You got a problem with things that are black?!" Puck rolled his eyes and picked up a dry and burnt drumstick that was lying in a baking dish.

"When it's the colour of my food! And it's _not_ chocolate! Yea...I got a problem with it." He tossed it back into the dish and smirked. "Trust me, I can cook a meal so good that it will make you melt into a puddle of sex." The fire alarm began to beep as the peppers became engulfed in flames.

"Shit, look what you made me do!" Santana grabbed a cup and began to fill it with water. Puck grabbed the fire extinguisher and sprayed it on the burning food, as well as on the food that had been already cooked. "You idiot! You did that on purpose!" She yelled and threw the cup of water on him. Puck laughed and wiped his eyes.

"Hey, I just saved us from a costly hospital visit for food poisoning. Also, if you wanted to see me shirtless you could have just asked...I would have said no because I got a girl, but tossing water on me isn't cool." Santana bit her lip in frustration and looked out into the living room to see that Mercedes and Sam hadn't even noticed the incident. By the time she turned around, Puck was cutting up more vegetables and had thrown away the food she had cooked before. Santana rolled her eyes and sat on the counter as he cooked. She had to admit that he knew his way around the stove. "My baby loves when I cook for her, she usually likes to cook with me, but she likes when I surprise her with sappy crap like this."

Santana leaned her head against a cupboard door and studied him. "You don't rub me as a commitment kind of dude Puckerman." He laughed as he sprinkled seasonings on the vegetables in the pan.

Grabbing some meat from the fridge, he cut it up and thought over his answer. "I'm not...so you're right." He shrugged and held the raw meat in his hands as he watched the vegetables fry. "The only person I've ever even thought about committing for is Zizes...she's my girl. She sets me straight when I do some effed up shit and she makes me feel like I'm not some loser who can't do anything. She's my ride an die chick for sure." He laughed and shook his head, "But she doesn't really like commitment...she knows I'm hers and I know she's mine, but she doesn't want to label crap because it makes it too real. She called me her boyfriend I think once or twice...Y'know what I'm saying?" Santana nodded.

"Sappy as hell, but yea...I get it." Puck laughed and threw the meat into another pan after it had warmed up.

"What about you? You got someone who's brave enough to deal with you?" He grinned and noticed Santana's faraway look as she stared out into the living room.

"Nope. Just me myself and I." She tore her eyes away from the pair in the living room and looked at the food. "Hurry up man, I'm hungry." She poked him with a wooden spoon.

"It'll be done soon, remember I had to fix your disaster."

She rolled her eyes and grabbed the bag of tortilla wraps. "Well if you didn't destroy my food, we'd be done by now!" Puck ignored her whining and continued cooking at his own pace until it was done. He dished out the ingredients and Santana put out four wraps. She walked to the living room, "Cedes, Trouty, foods done." Mercedes and Sam continued to sign to each other. "Hey!" Santana yelled and Mercedes jumped.

"Hey what's up?" Santana folded her arms across her chest and pursed her lips. "What?!" Sam turned his head to look at Santana as well.

"Foods done." Mercedes signed to Sam, who in turn signed something back.

"Thanks for making us dinner, but we're just going to finish off our conversation and then we'll eat." Mercedes smiled at Sam. He signed thank you to Santana and then proceeded to sign with Mercedes. Santana choked back her annoyance and sat at the small table with Puck. He bit into his wrap and looked over at the two in the living room.

"They're not hungry?" He asked with his mouth full. Santana shook her head and slowly made her wrap. "Good, more for us then." He smiled and noticed her vacant expression. "Dude what's up?" Santana shook her head and stopped placing ingredients into her wrap.

"Nothing. I'm tired." She pushed her wrap towards him. "I bet it tastes like sunshine and lollipops, but I'm not hungry." He stared at her for a moment and then nodded. Puck wasn't the greatest with academics, but he wasn't stupid. He knew something was wrong with her, but he knew her personality enough to know that she would need to come to him in her own time.

"Cool."

She nodded and walked to her room. He sat there for a moment looking at Sam and Mercedes. "Those two just need to bang and get it over with. I can smell the hormones from here." He muttered to himself and finished off his meal.

**Week 4**

"Yo Artie, tell Mark over here about that chick with the eye!" Puck clapped his good friend on the back and laughed. The shorter man in the wheelchair almost choked on his beer as he himself began to laugh at the memory. Their mutual friend Mark held his bottle to his lips as he waited patiently to find out what juicy story his friends were referring to. Artie tilted his glasses up and tried to calm his breathing as he finished laughing.

"Alright so my friend Becky thought that she would do me a favour and set me up with this girl from her work. So I said cool, hook me up, sounds good...because honestly what do I have to lose?" He ran a hand through his brown hair and shrugged. "So this girl meets me at a restaurant and things were going good, she was funny, we were flirting up a storm, good times all around...but then, her eye...started to twitch..." He began to imitate the action and Mark and Puck began to laugh, "But not like ordinary twitching, her eye was seriously malfunctioning or something, but she didn't seem to notice...so here's me just staring at this damn eye and I'm trying to focus on her, but it's tripping me out, because now half of her face is doing it."

"And she's still talking to you...like nothing's even happening?" Mark asked in surprise, Puck covered his mouth to stop the loud guffaw from escaping as he pictured Artie's date.

"Yea man! She was telling me about work and her family while her face is doing the salsa. Anyways, her eyes were so beautiful, like they were this bright blue and they were the first thing that I noticed on her. Suddenly, the eyeball with the twitch starts to swivel a bit and I immediately think of Mad Eye Moody from Harry Potter, because it's just rolling there in her head. So by now I'm just staring at her with my mouth open and food is sliding off of my fork. She's like, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost and then BOOM! her face and her eye just stops moving."

"What the fuck?" Mark clutched his sides and shook his head. "Dude were you high?"

"No!" Artie shook his head and tapped the arm of his chair. "I leaned forward and I said, I'm sorry if this is rude, but half of your face looked like you were having a stroke. She paused and started to cry and told me she had a glass eye, but it was too big and it was pushing on some nerves and she was so embarrassed...man I felt so bad about it all, I just laughed it off and told her that I had trouble getting my Johnson up sometimes, so we all had our problems." Puck placed his head on the table and laughed, he knew what was coming up in the story. "You know that heifer told me that she couldn't accept the fact that my member had trouble popping up all the time! That glass eye rolling, half face twitching, psycho told me that she found _that_ too weird for her and up and left the god damn table. I swear I prayed that her shrimp gave her runs all night." Mark burst out laughing and Artie rolled his eyes. "I should have said you can judge me when you're able to roll both of your damn eyes At. The. Same. Time.!"

Puck wiped his eyes as tears ran down his face and Mark gasped for air. "Shit! Man you should have rolled her ass over with your wheelchair and then reversed that mother fucker. How are you going to let Mad Eye play you like _that_?"

"It was cold man...just cold. Like how can you judge me, when I can pop your eye out of your head and use it as a golf ball? Like for real?" Puck shook his head and stood up.

"I need to get another drink boys, be right back."

"You need to tell Lauren to hook me up with one of her friend's man! I know Tina has been giving me the eye and I know hers are real, so set it up!" Artie yelled over his shoulder. Puck shook his head and walked over to the bar. He tapped his fingers against the cool wood and whistled as he looked around. A woman sat a few seats away from him with her head in her hands. The shudder of her back told him that she was crying. He walked over to her and lightly placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, you okay?" The woman looked up at him glassy eyed and squinted. Her mascara had run down her cheeks and he could smell the strong liquor reeking out of her pores. "Santana?!" He asked in shock. She started to cry harder as she sat there. He sat down on the stool beside her and looked her over. "Did someone do something to you?" She sat up and laughed bitterly before she drained off her drink that was in front of her.

"You...know what!? Love is fucking stupid, people are fucking stupid, and blondes can suck my invisible DICK!" she yelled out drunkenly. "Like what the fuck?! Why do people have to fall for the stupid ones huh?! Blondes have more fun?! Really?! well fuck your fun! And your blondeness!"

"Shhhh girl, you're going to get your ass kicked out of here." He tried to quiet her down as the bar tender stared at them.

"Good, they can bite me for all I care!" She waved her empty glass in the air, which Puck removed from her fingers quickly and placed it to the side. "Why don't they love me?! Why is it so hard for people to love me back, like I give and I give and I just want to be given something sometimes, but noooooo, nooooo Santana can't get that love why!? Because fuck a duck, because fuck everyone!" She yelled and Puck put his hand over her mouth. He felt something warm and wet against his palm.

Quickly, he yanked his hand away. "Ugh, did you just lick me?"

"I do what I wants Puta! Leave me alone!" He shook his head, picked her up, and threw her over his shoulder. "PUT ME DOWN!" She yelled as he carried her away. "I will fart on everything you love!" He laughed and walked over to his friends who were staring at him in shock.

"Hey guys, got to head out with this psycho here. So, I'll catch you later. Let's do this again." Artie slowly nodded.

"Let your friend know she has a nice bum. That is all. See you Puckerman." Mark raised his beer bottle in acknowledgement. Puck smirked and left the bar. He put her down while they waited for a taxi. She turned her body away from him and looked down the street until he turned her around and pulled her into a hug.

"What are you doing?" She mumbled against his shirt.

"I think you need this right now, and if I'm wrong then pull away." He waited for a moment but she did nothing but stand there against him. The cool air rushed around them causing her to shiver. A taxi pulled over and he helped her into the back while he sat in the front. "Where's Mercedes?"

Santana leaned her head against the window and started to cry again, harder this time, "She's my friend! How could I feel this way?! How could I fall in love like that?! Fuck blondes and their amazingness, fuck them all!" She wiped her eyes and Puck decided that taking her home may not have been the best idea if she was feeling a certain way about Mercedes at the moment. He gave his address to the cab driver and took her to his apartment.

"Everything's so messed up." She mumbled as he helped her into his bed. He pulled off her shoes and put them to the side. "Don't fall in love...it's bad, it's so bad and everyone sucks and they're all putas and I just..." She put her arm across her eyes as she blocked out the light. "I'm tired of pretending I don't care...I'm so tired."

"Just go to sleep, we'll talk about it in the morning okay?" She removed her arm from her face and looked at him with swollen red eyes.

"Don't leave me please, I can't be alone right now...I just can't" Puck sighed and felt bad for her. He knew that she was going to regret everything that she was telling him when she came to her senses the next day. He crawled into bed beside her and she wrapped her arms around his waist. They laid there quietly for fifteen minutes until Santana started to gently snore. He tried getting out of her hold so that he could go sleep on the couch, but she would mumble and hold him tighter. After ten minutes of struggling and trying not to wake her up, he finally got her to move her arm, but she immediately wrapped her legs around his instead.

"Damnit. How the hell did anyone get away from you with a grip like that?" He cursed quietly and pinched the bridge of his nose. A long yawn escaped him as he laid there. "Alright, I'm just going to just rest my eyes for a sec and hopefully by then I'll have more strength to move her." He muttered tiredly to himself. Puck grabbed his pillow and tried to wedge it between their bodies before he fell asleep.

* * *

Sam sat in the living room with a small bowl of porridge with cinnamon sprinkled on top as he watched a random cartoon show. His week had been busy with school and work, so he enjoyed the alone time as he relaxed there on the couch. The double vibration in his pyjama pants pocket alerted him that he had received a text message.

**Lauren: Hey Bam Bam, is Puck there? :S**

Sam looked over by the door and noticed the shoes that his best friend had worn the night before when he had went out to the bar with friends.

**Sam: Hey Laur, yea he's here.**

**Lauren: What a douche. We're supposed to go out to lunch and then watch a wrestling match tonight. He's not answering his phone, so I'm on my way there to give him a rude awakening.**

Sam smiled and shook his head. Lauren and Puck were perfectly made for each other, but were sometimes such the complete opposite, but it worked for them.

**Sam: Sounds good. I'll open the door for you.**

**Lauren: Thanks Bam Bam.**

**Sam: Np :p**

He finished off his bowl and realised that he was still hungry. Slowly, he pushed himself off of the couch, unlocked the door, walked into the kitchen, and then peered into the fridge to see what he could find to eat. There were six eggs left in the carton, so he decided to make three and eat them with two slices of whole wheat toast.

Santana's mouth began to water at the smell of breakfast being made. She wondered if Mercedes would mind sharing with her like she normally did on the weekends. _Wait...Mercedes is visiting her family this weekend._ Her eyes painfully opened and she slowly rubbed the cold out of her eyes as her head pounded. She tried to move her body, but found a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist. Panicked, she turned around and stared at Puck. His face was buried into a pillow, but she'd recognize that mohawk anywhere. She racked her brain to figure out she had gotten there and then she recalled the bar from the night before. A sigh escaped her lips and she grinned at the man who had saved her. "Thanks," She spoke quietly. Her mouth felt dry and her head felt heavy and dizzy as she looked at him. She tried to move his arm, but he grabbed on to her more tightly. He mumbled something into the pillow. Frustrated, she tried to move him again, only for him to jerk out of his sleep and stare at her. His pillow had left lines on his face and drool had pooled on to the side of his mouth. He looked around and wiped his mouth on his sleeve, immediately letting her go. "Morning, Puckerface." Puck rubbed his eyes and chuckled. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. How many more times would she end up waking in the boy's apartment?

"Morning to you too madame drinks alot." They grinned at each other as they remembered how they had gotten there. Puck's bedroom door flew open, smacking the wall behind it as Lauren walked inside. She had planned on scaring him in his sleep, but she hadn't planned on finding her man in bed with another woman.

"Lauren?!" Puck scrambled out of the bed as he saw the look of pain etched itself into her features. It took her two seconds before she crossed the room and grabbed him by his shoulders.

"What the hell is this!?" She yelled at him, shaking him with anger.

"Lauren, stop, this isn't what it looks like!" Santana had rolled out of the bed and was quickly putting on her shoes. Lauren looked at her from the corner of her eyes which had begun to tear up. "Puck found me in a bar drunk out of my mind and saved my life last night."

"By doing what?! Sleeping with you!?" The taller woman yelled as her hold on Puck's shoulders tightened. The pain brought him to his knees and he knew he was going to have bruises there.

"No! He brought me here and that's all that happened nothing else. We just fell asleep." Tears spilled down Lauren's cheeks as she stared at the wall past Santana. She took a step back and wiped her eyes. Puck rubbed his shoulders and stared at her.

"Zizes, I would never sleep around on you...ever. Baby girl, you're all that I could ever need in my life. I wouldn't cheat on you. I fucking promise." Santana watched a range of emotions cross Lauren's face before she looked completely emotionless. She looked over at Santana for a brief moment and cleared her throat. Santana caught the cue and walked towards the door.

"Thanks Puck." He looked at her and nodded with a weak smile. Santana left the room, walked into the kitchen, and braced herself against the kitchen table. She felt sick as she remembered the pain and hurt she had caused Lauren in that brief moment. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Sam staring at her from his seat at the kitchen table. "Damn blondes." She muttered under her breath before she turned around and left the apartment. Sam put his fork down and got up to go to Puck's room, but the door was locked. He scratched the side of his head, decided that he didn't want to know what happened, and went back into the kitchen to finish off his breakfast.


End file.
